


Emergence

by stgjr



Category: BattleTech: MechWarrior, Classic Battletech (Tabletop RPG)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:08:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 40,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28844349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stgjr/pseuds/stgjr
Summary: 15 August 3142 was supposed to be a great day for Malvina Hazen, self-proclaimed Chingghis Khan and Khan of the Jade Falcon Clan. But sometimes, things happen nobody expects...
Kudos: 4





	1. Emergence

**Author's Note:**

> This little plot bunny came to me via conversations with CptOrsai about the Dark Ages era of BattleTech. Until it ended just before New Year, I'd been participating in a GSRPG (Grand Strategy Role Playing-Game, instead of rolling individual characters you roll countries basically) on Spacebattles.com, "Shattered Sphere", which was an alternate timeline of canon BattleTech set in the 3030s and the dawn of "the Second Age of War", a great re-consolidation of the Inner Sphere after the collapse of the Great Houses in the Succession Wars. The idea was bridging the future, Dark Age-equivalent time period of our game world with the canon world, mostly to the frustration of Malvina Hazen, for reasons that will soon be obvious. With said game over though, and the need to keep myself awake toward the end of a 17 hour day of work, I started writing the scenario we'd brought up into prose, and things sort of went from there. Orsai has been kind enough to jump in and provide some of the dialogue and refinements, and write entire scenes, particularly important as I've never read Dark Age-era BattleTech fiction.
> 
> A forewarning, I am not necessarily going to frequently update this, I have another project that will be demanding more and more of my attention in the coming weeks. But I figured I'd share what I've got.

**_CJFS Red Talon_ , Orbit**   
**Timkovichi, Coventry Province**   
**Lyran Commonwealth**   
**15 August 3142**

The planet Timkovichi seemed deceptively peaceful this far up, but the scanners of the _Aegis_ -class cruiser under Star Commodore Phillip von Jankmon were telling the real story. Advanced optical sensors and electronic detectors allowed those systems to display on the command center's main holotank the ongoing fight below. The Falcons' allies in the Hell's Horses Clan were fully engaged with local Lyran troops, including the hated Kell Hounds. Khan Hazen's personal troops were nearby, ready to deal with them.

Or rather, their survivors.

The ship's communications officer, Point Commander Albert, glanced up from his station. "My Commodore, Khan Hazen has given the order."

A part of von Jankmon's soul burned at it. This was not the Way of the Clans. He wanted his WarShip, a pride of the old Star League, to fight other WarShips, to win glory to match its proud battle history. Firing on enemy ground troops that could not return fire felt wrong.

But the _Chinggis Khan_ decreed otherwise. Her doctrine demanded it. All who fought the Falcons must _die_ , and all planets that resisted must _suffer_. Von Jankmon shivered reflexively; thankfully hidden by the bridge temperature being lower than was comfortable, for the computers, and the crew’s alertness. No warrior of the Jade Falcons who lived past their Trial of Position - even one who measured battle in hundreds of kilometres and degrees of orbit, rather than the close-quarters clash of BattleMechs - feared death, but to defy Malvina Hazen courted not just death, but _Annihilation_ , for kin and Bloodheritage as well as self.

"Helm, alter heading and orbital position to optimal firing position. Gunnery, prepare weapons to fire on my mark, target… grid square Alpha Beta Kappa 328." He read off the appropriate firing point based on their pre-arranged grid squares.

The look on Star Commander Sergio's face betrayed his displeasure, but he obeyed. In the end, obedience was part of the Clan Way as well.

_The Kell Hounds die today, and we draw closer to final victory. A pity we will be little better than_ dezgra _._

"Targeting coordinates set, Star Commodore," Sergio said. "I will fire on your order."

"Helm, position has been reached?"

" _Neg_. Another minute and thirty seconds."

Alarm lights went off. The tactical holotank swapped from a view of the battle below to that of orbit, and red lights appeared in rapid sequence. "Report!"

"It is not possible…" stammered the operations officer. "Star Commodore, we have _emergence_ signatures!"

"Over _orbit?_ Impossible! Get those _stravag_ Techs up here to check your station and get our firing points back on."

"It's not the station!" the man blurted out, wincing at his own terrible language. "We have emergence signatures in _orbit_ , sir! Multiple ships, one up to two megatons mass! It… it should not be possible! There is no feasible pirate point!"

"Then there cannot be emergence signatures!" the Star Commodore retorted.

"DropShips _Emerald Shrike_ and _Blood Falcon_ confirm, sir," the comm officer said in disbelieving terms. "They have emergence signatures showing too."

"Five seconds to emergence!"

It seemed impossible, but Star Commodore von Jankmon realized he might yet be getting his wish.

And that was when space tore itself apart right in front of his eyes, and from within the tear, ships appeared.

Vice Admiral Lord Paul Marik, Count of Corin on his homeworld of Atreus and Commander of the Arcadian Royal Navy's 1st Battle Fleet, knew something was wrong when the jump didn't have the usual jolt and brief nausea. It felt like his body was being run through a sieve and for the barest of moments he was certain he was about to die.

Then the fifty-two year old man felt reality reassert itself. His eyes received light yet again, giving him a view of the command center built into the armored heart of the _AFS Arcadia_ , the two million ton battleship that served as his flagship. The system timer's light brought his attention at first: "3142-08-15 11:30". A multitude of officers, responsible for both squadron and battle force command, all seemed as stunned as he was. "Just what in God's name was that?" he demanded. At the periphery of his senses he noted the screens showing something that should be impossible; they were in high orbit of a planet, far too close for a proper pirate point to be present.

"I'm not sure, sir," his engineering operations officer reported. Lieutenant Commander Jasminder Patel, a commoner from Bolan, blinked and shook her head while looking over her station. "The K-F drive is reporting several blown seals and registered an overload, but we seem to have made a successful jump despite that. I just don't understand how we can be in orbit."

From communications, Lieutenant Commander Saul Cohen spoke with the Hebrew accent of a Gienah native. "Admiral, every ship in the fleet is reporting drive faults and a few casualties from jump shock. It looks like the phen…"

Paul's attention was drawn to his holotank, which now blinked angry red as icons appeared. Most were those along with the Battle Fleet - the various WarShips, the military JumpShips carrying the army units being employed for the ground portion of the exercises - but amber "unidentified" contacts showed in nearby orbit. " _Unknown ships in proximity,_ " called Lieutenant James Paxson, the ship's tactical systems officer up on the command bridge, where Captain Karla Proctor-Steiner governed the colossal battleship. " _Vessels are of unknown design, but one seems to match records for_ Aegis _-class SLDF cruisers._ "

Aegis? _Those still exist?_ "That doesn't make sense. Where is the _Imperator Corvus_? Or the _Emma Centrella?_ "

"No sign of either the Principate or Canopian squadrons, sir," replied his own staff officer, referring to the other Spinward Pact ships that were due to take part in the exercises at Timkovichi. "Multiple ships in orbit, however, and ongoing comm activity… it looks like an active battle."

_An active battle? This far within Lyran Alliance territory? It can't be the Rasalhaguans, they'd never violate our territory so brazenly._ Paul darkly wondered if the Liaos were here, but they were too smart to throw a bolt so deep into Lyran territory, and they hadn't challenged the Peace of Dieron in nearly twenty years, not since the Battle of Sirius. "Do we have an ident on that cruiser?"

Cohen spoke up. "IFF squawk identifies her as…" His face twisted into confusion. "'Clan Jade Falcon WarShip _Red Talon_.'"

A question formed on Paul's lips, but it never left his throat as the tactical systems officer's voice rang over the ship intercom again. " _Unknown ship's weapons are hot, I repeat, weapons hot, targeting systems active… she's targeting the planet!_ "

That was all Lord Paul needed to hear. "All ships, combat alert! I want targeting locks on that cruiser now!"

Star Commodore von Jankmon was trying not to think of the rather larger naval force now hovering well within weapons range of his lone WarShip and its attached DropShip assets. His forced his mind onto his dask: obeying the orders of his Khan and annihilating the Kell Hounds with a salvo from his guns. But he needed more time!

"Enemy weapons are going active, sir, and targeting systems are locking onto us!"

"Keep us on course!" Even as he spoke, he wondered if it would be enough. "Commence firing when ready!" _Just a few seconds more..._

The sight of the _Aegis_ -class ship continuing its attack run decided matters. Paul's finger stabbed down on the controls. "This is OpForce Command to all ships, engage at will, I repeat, engage at will!"

Cohen spoke up once more. "Sir, signal from _Wotan_. The Ghastillan squadron is responding to orders, they're engaging as well."

Paul's tactical holotank reflected that. The Ghastillan heavy cruiser and its attached frigates, picket DropShips, and carriers were moving to engage, not surprising since Timkovichi was a Ghastillan world. In his own formation the heavy cruisers _Sara Proctor_ and _Mordecai Shaltiel_ moved forward, with the ship named for the founder of the Proctor dynasty already firing away with her naval batteries of gauss rifles and PPCs. _Shaltiel_ joined with a long range burst from their NAC-35s and NAC-40s, lasers and PPCs were likewise firing. The frigates _Emancipator_ and _Liberator_ joined them with similar armaments, and missiles erupted from the launchers on the missile frigate _Diane Carey_ and her two attached destroyers, _Arjuna_ and _Rama_.

It was going to be a one-sided affair, but the enemy ship wasn't going down quietly. She fired as well, missiles and autocannon and laser fire. Heavy shells ripped across the bow of the _Emancipator_ , tearing armor away, but the frigate remained on her course while her gauss cannons and naval lasers and PPCs blazed away. Despite the moderate amount of AMS fire the Arcadian fleet could put out, the "Jade Falcon" missiles slammed into every ship, one coming within a meter of damaging the great silver and gold hawk set into the _Arcadia_ 's bow, and further naval laser and cannon impacts spoke on his forces. " _Shaltiel_ reports she's down a cannon, sir. _Arjuna_ took three hits and has internal damage."

"Tell Captain Choudhury to make maneuvers as he needs, and keep _Arjuna_ covered."

Their own fire was, as expected, far more effective, and already they were carving out the guts of the enemy cruiser with their onslaught. But time would tell if they could avert the holocaust the _Red Talon_ seemed determined to inflict on Timkovichi.

By this point the carriers in the allied task force were commencing launches from their immediate readiness units. Two wings worth of fighters from each of the Arcadian carriers were in void, as were the interceptors of the Arcadian WarShips. The picket ships, armed with their subcapital batteries, moved forward as well, led by _AFS Pinafore_ , _AFS Penzance_ , and _AFS Plucky_. The fighters and pickets met the enemy combat droppers and their fighters partway between the two forces. Cannon and laser and missile fire bridged the two forces, joined by the explosions as weapon impacts blew away armor and hull. The Arcadian fighter pilots, among the most extensively trained in the entire Inner Sphere, brought their attacks home on the enemy ships, the _Darter_ and _Condor_ bombers unleashing missile bombardments after their escorts - _Sabre III_ , _Zero II_ , and _Lightning II_ OmniFighters mostly - pinned down enemy interceptors.

Lord Paul felt painful old phantoms from his earlier career. He remembered the _Menelaus Louganis_ in orbit over Sirius, burning, the loss of so many peers and comrades when the heavy cruiser blew apart under Capellan fire...

His officers' reports brought him out of the old memory. "Enemy ship maneuvering, it looks like they're trying to put themselves between the planet and us. They're still targeting surface contacts though."

"Human shields." He glowered. "Have our frigates maneuver to block this effort, all ships check fire, but take them down!"

While this mandated a slight decrease to their output, it didn't change the fact that a single cruiser, heavy as it was, was facing three other heavy cruisers, four frigates, several destroyers, and a battleship, and was already grievously wounded. The _Aegis_ was in a losing fight, and it knew it. So why wasn't it just breaking off? Why were they so determined to attack the planet?

For Star Commodore von Jankmon, all roads led to defeat. If he held to his orders, the newly-arriving squadron would destroy him. If he disobeyed, Khan Malvina would not only kill him, she'd kill his offspring, reave his entire Bloodheritage.

In the end, that prospect was the one he couldn't live with. Not even the possibility that she might not get off the planet alive was something he would risk.

The _Red Talon_ shook like a rattle in the fist of an angry child from the multiple weapon impacts she was taking. Their maneuver might lessen some enemy fire at least, and buy him time to fulfill the Khan's mission…

Then he heard the words no WarShip commander ever wanted to hear, accompanied with being thrown against his combat harness so hard he stopped breathing.

"Partial impact on missile magazines! Secondary explosions are—"

He had enough time to curse the name of his Khan before the explosion that claimed his life.

Far below, in the cockpit of the _Black Rose_ \- her own personal _Shrike_ \- Khan Malvina Hazen waited impatiently for her orders to be carried out. Everything was set. All that remained was for the _Red Talon_ to wipe them from the face of Timkovichi and her conquests would resume unhindered by the Hounds.

And yet, still no fire from above.

She keyed the long-range commlink to von Jankmon. "Star Commodore, you are prepared to fire, _quiaff_?" When no answer came she snarled. "Tell me you are prepared to fire or I will…"

The words died in her throat as her eyes drifted above the parting cloud. Far above, the _Red Talon_ was descending, moving to fire, to destroy her enemies.

But something was wrong. The descent was wrong.

She activated her magnification and could only stare in horror at the sight.

The _Red Talon_ was not descending. She was _falling_. Flames and debris billowed from her broken form, even now still taking fire from an enemy she could not perceive.

"Star Commodore, report!"

Again, no report came, and the reply seemed to come instead when a great thundercrack and a burst of light filled the sky, and when it was gone, the _Red Talon_ continued her fall, now shorn in two by the unseen enemy.

She shrieked in rage. _No! There was no force that could intervene such as this! Not that damned Alaric, not those pathetic Bears, or the Lyrans we have broken… I will not let this stand!_ Over her commlink she declared, "All warriors, strike down all who oppose you, all who come before you. This world will die screaming as a lesson to the others!" _If I must die here, I will take them all with me! Every single one!_

Continued weapons fire worked to break up the dying enemy cruiser, ensuring that surviving pieces would burn up enough in atmosphere to not cause cataclysmic damage to Timkovichi. Lord Paul felt his adrenaline rush decline, and with it, his focus shifted. "Do we have any idea where the other training groups are? Just what is going on here?"

"Still nothing from _Imperator Corvus_ or _Emma Centralla_ , sir," Commander Cohen said. "I'm also having trouble with our HPG. It's not picking up any transmissions on the network."

"How is that possible? Even if the ships aren't around, Old Connaught should be there."

"It's like nothing is. No stable HPG signals. Nothing's answering us either." Cohen's hands flew over the station. "We're getting a spike in the generators! Feedback is overloading them! Implementing crash shutdown!"

Paul received no time to process that. "Sir." His Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral Abigail Rodgers, looked up from a monitor at her station. "Sir, you should see this."

He didn't have to ask. She relayed the image to the holotank, which presented it as a flat holographic, coming from one of the ship's aft-facing hull cameras. "What in God's name…?" he gasped.

Behind the _Arcadia_ , a solid field of blue light pulsed through space. It looked like the field of a ship in mid-jump, but it remained visible, constant. Even now the transport JumpShips that they'd jumped with, carrying the regiments for the joint training sessions, were at the corona of the field, which illuminated their gray hulls in a gentle azure glow.

Commander Patel undoubtedly knew he was going to call on her. Her voice was hoarse. "I've never seen anything like it. I've never heard of anything like it."

"Could that be how we survived the misjump?"

"I can't say that either, Admiral," she replied. "I can't tell you one thing or another. K-F Drives… they're not supposed to behave that way. Not at all. And the gravities here should be too great for any jump field to form. This… this is something we'd have to go to the Royal University of Roslyn about, or the New Avalon Institute of Science."

"Sir." Cohen checked his station. "We're getting a signal from the surface."

"Really? And not the Ghastillans?" That was peculiar, since he imagined local authorities would go to their own ships first. "Admiral Kruger should be fielding their inquiries before I."

"No sir. They've not hailed the _Wotan_ at all, it seems. Sir…" Now confusion seeped into his voice. "The call claims to be from a Colonel Evan _Kell_. Of the Kell Hounds."

_For once, good Lord, could something here_ make sense?! "Colonel _Kell_ of the Kell Hounds? But we have…. And the 2nd Hounds are still on Arc-Royal! And there are no Kells at Colonel rank!"

He thought of the family's current numbers. Archduke Ethan Kell ruled Arc-Royal and the entirety of the Arc-Royal March of the Federation (as every Kell since Morgan had after the War of Donegal Succession a century ago), and his eldest daughter Callista Kell was a Captain in the 2nd Kell Hounds Regiment. Sons Phelan and Mark were attending Ayrshire on Arcadia, not active officers. They were the only main line left after Ethan's older brother Martin died childless in the 4th Succession War, killed in the fighting with Galedon's 3rd Sword of Light on Tukkayid in 3114.

He tried to remember if the Kell-Atholl branch had anyone, but even then, he knew the Kell Hound colonels by name. Neither were Kells.

"Put him on," Lord Paul sighed.

“ _-peat, this is Hound Sunray to unknown Warships. I don’t know who you are, but if that rain of cruiser parts is your handiwork, I owe you, a_ lot.”

"This is _Arcadia_ Actual. I am Admiral Paul Marik, Lord of Corin, Commanding Officer of the 1st Battle Fleet, Royal Arcadian Navy." Paul drew in a breath. "Your thanks are welcome, but I am having difficulty with your claimed identity. You say you are Colonel Evan Kell, Hound Sunray?"

“ _Have been since birth, Admiral Marik._ ”

"Commanding which regiment?"

“” _Here, the First Regiment, and the Third of the Second._ ” The static of PPC backwash fuzzed out the channel for a moment, then, “ _Hang on a minute, Admiral. I’ve got a prior engagement with the Hell’s Horses to handle_. _Handing you off to my second_.”

Paul stopped himself from the obvious problem with that line, since he'd dined with Colonel Deirdre Ward, CO of the 1st Kell Hounds, just two evenings ago. "What is your status?"

" _Lt. Colonel Nadia Allard, Admiral_ ," a woman's voice replied. " _Right now we're trying to hold back the Horses, but that psychotic Falcon bitch Hazen's troops just started razing everything and everyone they can get at. The militia can’t stop them, and all Hound elements are fully engaged; if you've got any further help for us, the people of Timkovichi could use it._ "

"She's right," said Admiral Rogers. "We're picking up transmissions. Establishing visuals."

The advanced video sensors on the _Arcadia_ brought up more images, this time compiling them into three-dimensional images for the holotank. Paul's jaw locked at seeing a strange BattleMech with a green falcon emblazoned on its chest smash open an apartment complex, spite in its motions as it kicked aside the pitiful wreck of a missile carrier. Walking alongside was another 'Mech, one that looked similar to the _Thor_ OmniMech his younger son Jason piloted in the 1st Atrean Dragoons, with a circular missile launcher on one shoulder and arm-mounted weapons and a slightly off-center cockpit as the main difference from Jason's machine. As he watched the pilot commenced their own carnage, discharging a PPC into a crowd of fleeing civilians followed by SRMs that blew apart their victims into ghastly chunks.

" _Adonai_ ," Cohen murmured. "Lord preserve, they're… they're just killing them."

The Admiral shook his head. "I've seen enough." He'd not seen such carnage since the frontline reports from the 4th Succession War in his youth, not even Sirius and the other worlds disputed with the Capellans had seen that level of gross slaughter. Having it disappear wouldn't erase the images from his mind.

With quiet fury he keyed the comm line, profoundly wishing he'd gotten the Arcadian Guards or the Proctor Assault Guards as originally proposed. "Colonel Allard, rest assured, help is on the way. Transmitting our IFF code information to you now." He nodded at Cohen. "Alert General Bridger. I want the 8th Strikers and 1st Kell Hounds scrambled and dropping on those sites immediately. Send in _everything_. And coordinate full deck strikes from the carriers to assist both landing forces and Colonel Ward's troops."

"Aye Admiral," Cohen said. "Orders going out now. Admiral Kruger is likewise ordering in the 4th Grenadiers."

"Good." The 4th Ghastillan Grenadiers were a crack brigade of two veteran 'Mech regiments, in accordance with Ghastilla's particular force doctrine. "Remind them that civilian lives are being lost every second!"


	2. Falcons' Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Faced with an obstacle she could never have imagined, Malvina Hazen, the Chinggis Khan, wages her final battle.

**Glassworks District, City of Cirenholm  
Timkovichi**  
  
  
“Back up, back up!” Kommandant Jacob Tanhause half-shouted over the intercom as his Brutus assault tank shook under a hard-hitting missile salvo. Thudding impacts from the salvo of advanced tactical missiles rang through the tank’s innards like a hundred trip-hammers at once, and Jacob swung the topside scopes around to try and find the source.  
  
“Got it!” he called across to his gunner. “ _Thor Deuce_ , at our ten.” A non-standard, custom setup, with a particle cannon in one arm and a six-tube ATM rack in the high shoulder mount.  
  
“I see it,” Sergeant Jessi “Cupcakes” Bannon replied, wrenching her control sticks around. The turret shifted with a whine of hydraulics. “One-twenty metres. Benjy, I want full power for the lasers; don’t care what you gotta kick.”  
  
Below the turret basket, in the sauna-hot main hull, Corporal Lise Pierce cursed as - stripped to her armoured vest - she fought the controls, swinging the tank around to put its heaviest armour to bear, drivetrain grinding unpleasantly at the shift in place. One more thing that needed fixing - in a full repair bay, not just whatever their engineer, Corporal Benjamin ‘Benjy’ Mayhew, could do with his toolbox - but they just didn’t have _time_.  
  
 _Time to trust my crew_. Jacob pushed himself back from the scopes, resisting the urge to take over the gunnery controls and make the shot himself. He focussed on the tac map display, reading the dark blue and jade icons, hitting the side of the display with a quick slap to get it moving again. The climbing losses tore at him; when they’d marched out against the Clan invaders twelve days ago, the Timkovichi Armoured Guard had consisted of a company of BattleMechs, and two strong regiments of armour and mechanised infantry. Now, they were down to a single ‘Mech - Leutnant Palisser’s ancient _Awesome_ \- and barely a battalion of conventional troops; and that remnant was going fast.  
  
The twin large lasers _cracked_ suddenly, filling the turret with a sweat-prickling pulse of heat and the stink of ozone and scorched insulation. A shrieking volley of SRMs rippled off the forward launchers a moment later, lofting a dozen fat-bodied warheads at the Clan machine.  
  
“ _Yes_! Got ‘im - fused his fuckin’ elbow solid!” Jessis shouted, exultant. “Ducking behind that warhouse - get after him, Lise.”  
  
“Negative that,” Jacob snapped. “Corporal, get us back to Mason’s Way; we can’t waste time dancing with this guy, not with two assault Trinaries hitting us. Hound Sunray Minor, this is Guard Sunray, acting,” he switched to long-range comms; the frequency for the Kell Hounds’ mobile HQ. “Requesting support _urgently_ ; we can’t stop the Falcons.”  
  
“ _Hound Sunray Minor_ _acknowledges, Guard Sunray._ ” Leftenant-Colonel Allard didn’t even sound slightly flustered, as though she was taking orders in a restaurant, not shuffling companies like a card-sharp’s deck. “ _We have support en route to your pos, Guard, just hang on, and make sure your IFFs are live; aero elements are oh-five mikes out._ ”  
  
  
  
  
At the controls of a _DRT-2 Darter_ OmniFighter, Ensign Abraham Farmer was a long way from his home town of Worcester, on Arcadia's Plymouth Peninsula. The descendant of the New England colonists that settled the otherwise Anglo-Scot reaches of Eastern Islay on Arcadia, Farmer's choice for service was the Federation Royal Navy, specifically, the Aerospace Arm.   
His three years at the Rivka Shaltiel Flight Academy on Gienah were tough enough, and that was for general aerospace pilot and officer education, to teach him how to handle the enormously complex, expensive, and powerful machine that was an aerospace fighter craft. But for the Navy, that was only the start; next came his stint with other final year cadets on the training carrier _AFS Independence_ , a former frontline WarShip-Carrier that was crippled in the Concord-Compact War at the Battle of Tikonov, then rebuilt to be a permanent trainer given it roved unsuitable for frontline naval operations. The training was grueling, the mark of the Royal Navy's dedication to having the best aerospace pilots in service, but his reward was a place among the best pilots in all the Inner Sphere.  
  
Finishing that year of rigorous space-borne training led directly to his current assignment to the 11th Naval Strike Wing - the "Voidsharks" - on the _AFS Ranger_ , an old warhorse from before the Second Age of War with a shiny new rebuild. Now he was at the controls of a 95-ton war machine currently sloughing off the re-entry heat as it plunged through Timkovichi's atmosphere. Commander Winston's words still rang in his ears. " _We're not sure what the hell's going on, but we know someone's down there murderin' civilians. Put 'em down fast and put 'em down hard, Voidsharks._ "  
  
"Feet hot," he called over the AFRF tac link, and other pilots in his twelve-fighter squadron said the same, followed by the other twelve fighters of the Voidsharks when the second squadron of the 11th Wing descended into the atmosphere.  
  
" _11SW, this is_ Ranger Actual _, we're relaying friendly IFFs to you now. Weapons tight, people; watch what you shoot_ ," said the ASG PriFly Director up on the _Ranger_.  
  
" _Roger that,_ Ranger Actual. _Weapons tight, all elements_ ," answered Lieutenant Commander Tiraz, the 11th's CO. He'd be piloting a _Darter_ as well, but his configuration employed a Rotary AC/5 in the nose backed by pulse lasers on the wings. " _Inbound on Cirenholm and other localities._ "  
  
Farmer kept his _Darter_ on the course projected on his HUD, courtesy of PriFly, singling Cirenholm out from among Timkovichi's towns and cities. The final minutes to engagement passed and he could see the black smoke coiling into the air. The city was being destroyed. He made a final check on his fire selectors. The wing-mounted pods contained top of the line Matthews Ballistics SureShot-20s, utilizing Streak technology to conserve ammo, while a Vickers-Armstrong Mk. 8 Particle Projector Cannon in the chin pod let him deliver a heavy hit on top of the missile barrage to whatever 'Mech or tank he deigned to fire one.  
  
As the 11th neared the point of its first attack run, they fanned out, ensuring the widest support to the multiple beleaguered forces present. Above their heads the 66th Naval Aerospace Wing - the "Double-Sixes" - were locked in dogfights with enemy aerospace fighters, keeping them off the incoming strike packages and allowing Farmer to focus on the targets forming on his holotank. He picked one particularly tall 'Mech. The identification systems decided it was a _Thor_ OmniMech, "Unknown Configuration", after briefly considering it a _Tanatis_ (the 'Mech the _Thor_ was based on). The colors included a bright emerald shade. In just a couple seconds he'd be in range, which meant he'd have a second to squeeze the trigger before he'd overshoot. His targeting systems were already establishing missile locks.  
  
The crosshairs turned from crimson to gold, and a tone came to his ears. Weapons lock complete, range imminent.  
  
As soon as the gold crosshairs blinked, he squeezed his triggers. Both launchers erupted, their computers verifying the shot was good and would deliver hits, and a bolt of cerulean fury from his _Darter_ 's chin lanced through the air and scourged the side of the _Thor_. Even as his fighter roared over his target's head, his holotank displayed the last seconds of camera footage from the LRMs, confirming nearly three quarters of the salvo hit home; the flickering beams of a pair of anti-missile lasers burned the others out of the air. He kicked his fighter into a brief acceleration burn, pushing his limits from the 4 and a half Gs of thrust the _Darter_ could sustain at maximum effort, which quickly bought him the distance needed to make his second pass. His target was limping, evidently from missile damage to its leg, but still tracking weapons on a friendly-ID tank. They had only seconds before whatever missiles or cannons the thing was mounting would hammer them. He kicked his thrust up again, briefly, and had a lock ready when the range was good again.  
  
This time his PPC cored the heart of the machine, blasting armor and endo-steel from the chest. The first coils of oily black smoke came from within. His LRM shot wasn't as successful this time, as his right wing launcher couldn't confirm a solid lock and refused to fire.  
  
His left wing launcher did fire, however, and twenty missiles descended on the enemy machine. Again its anti-missile lasers flickered beams into the air, catching three, four, five missiles, six…  
  
...but not all.  
  
While a couple missiles worsened the wound in the enemy torso, one more struck home on the torso-mounted six-tube launcher, crippling the weapon, and the other missiles made their own impacts. By the time he was burning past, the green enemy machine was in dire straits, and he prepared for a third run.  
  
  
  
  
The first strike run happened so fast, Jacob Tanhause wasn’t sure for a moment just what had happened. Just a shattering sonic _boom_ , a flash of man-made lightning brighter and hotter than his Brutus’s laser bolts, the rippling light-flares of missiles. The _Thor Deuce_ staggered back into view, shedding armour in semi-molten strips, bleeding coolant from ruptured sinks. Sweeping back in a blisteringly tight turn, the friendly fighter set up for another run. That fighter -  
  
Jacob blinked, trying to make sense of it. It didn’t match anything in LCAF service that he knew; maybe a Davion _Rondel_ , if they came in a mark that packed a pair of heavy LRM racks and a heavy particle cannon, but he’d never heard of one. No Davion regiment used that gold-on-black colour scheme, anyway.  
  
The second strafing run peeled away even more armour, spilling one of the anti-missile lasers into the street in ruin, and then the fighter was away, behind them.  
  
That was more than enough for Jessi Bannon. As soon as her range field was clear, she hit the firing triggers, unleashing everything the tank had. Short- and long-range missiles walked across the ‘Mech’s armour in rippling yellow-white blossoms, calving away armour composite and endosteel, and the cobalt spears of the main lasers hammered into the weakened centreline, ripping away armour, gutting the gyro and blasting out of the seventy-ton machine’s back in a mist of semi-molten shrapnel.  
  
Robbed of its balance, the _Thor_ shuddered in mechanical palsy before collapsing forward. _Hard_ ; hard enough to bury its right shoulder and part of the head module in the torn-up asphalt.  
  
“Good kill, good kill!” Jessi yelled, loud enough that Jacob had to hold his headset away from his ears for a moment.  
  
“ _Guard Sunray, this is Spotter One._ ” A young voice, one of the infantry teams providing early warning and - when they’d still had ammo for it - artillery directions. “ _Boss, you wanna look up, ‘cause it is beautiful_.”  
  
Jacob flicked the camera feeds to vertical, showing just what the infanteer had seen.  
  
DropShips. Half a dozen or more - including a couple that were _big_ ; from the rangefinder’s figures at least half again the size of an _Overlord_ \- each emblazoned with a white and gold hawk insignia.  
  
  
  
  
In the bowels of the _AFS Charles Sinclair_ , Lieutenant Evangeline Penton-Vallejo drew in a breath and readied the controls of her _Paladin_. The PLD-3 was the OmniMech version of Arcadia's first signature 'Mech, and her configuration was one of the specialized "Striker" variants employed by the three Striker Regiments of the AFRF. Her eyes went over her equipment checklist screen and verified everything was green. The five RussTech TurboJets that gave her 'Mech thrust for jumping, the Vickers-Armstrong Mark 8 PPC and Mark 14 and Mark 18 Lasers (Large size, one normal and one pulse) and the Mark 15s (mediums), every one of those energy weapons a Terran Royal-tech Extended Range model. The loadout fit the Striker preference for energy weapon, even if it also meant every spare square meter of volume was taken up by the heat sinks necessary to even partially regulate her machine's major heat potential.  
  
The twenty-three year old graduate of the Nagelring was new to the 8th Strikers. It was a tradition for both sides of the family, the Penton-Vallejos and Penton-Galvariz-Aghliesi, to serve in the unit, and Evangeline was happy to get the nod. Bronze-skinned and dark-haired, she took after her family matriarch, Rachel Vallejo y Galvariz, save her preference to cut her hair far shorter, and to keep the traditional shaved temples that were utterly unnecessary in neurohelmets these days.  
  
Right now her concern was the light in the 'Mech bay. _This was only supposed to be a training campaign_ , she thought, swallowing her fear as the light flashed red once more, and the light-wands of the battlesuited trooper acting as ground-guide waved to tell her she was lined up right. The turn to yellow told her they were about to deploy, that she was about to jump out of a DropShip at least half a kilometer off the ground and then bring her 'Mech to a controlled landing, _under fire_ , with the jump jets. For the first time in her life, she was going to face combat.  
  
 _Mom and Dad fought in the War. They survived Tukayyid, Buckminster, Irian. I can do this too._ She drew in a breath as the yellow light's pace quickened. _Any second…_  
  
The light flashed green.  
  
Machinery came to life and the great doors for the _Charles Sinclair_ 's hangars opened, allowing light to pour in and illuminate the BattleMechs of the 8th Strikers' 1st Battalion. Their operational color of light blue and white, standard for the air-dropping Striker Regiments, was only broken up by the relatively small unit patch often placed on the shoulders or upper chests or legs of the 'Mechs in the unit, the yellow and orange-plumed Arcadian sunhawk on a yellow disc, reflecting the 8th Strikers' unit nickname: "Sunhawks".  
  
The 'Mechs ahead of her, led by Captain Rosaline Kincaid of Bravo Company and Lance Lieutenant Wolfgang von Krager, her personal lance commander, started jumping out in regular intervals. She put her 'Mech into motion and followed them out, shutting out everything but her drop training. She thought her stomach would climb into her throat as her 75 ton 'Mech jumped into open air. Some weapons fire lashed skyward at them and met retorts from the 8th Strikers' Aerospace Group and the supporting naval fighters, as well as the weapons on the descending DropShips. The fast insertion droppers were going even lower to deploy the 8th Striker Armored Infantry Regiment into position, along with supporting 'Mechs. Fire skittered off the light blue and white hulls of the DropShips, which they returned in earnest while dropping their forces off.  
  
Evangeline's eyes focused on the rapidly declining number showing her altitude. At three hundred meters she fired her first burst of jump thrust, only for a few seconds, and continued to gently employ it until the two hundred meter mark, when she began a steadier application that escalated to a full slam on the pedals at a hundred meters. At ten meters the thrust was temporarily exhausted, but that was close enough. At least for her "Mech, for her it was a bone-jarring landing.  
  
Laser fire stitched across the breast of her _Paladin_ , scorching the bright Sunhawk patch there. An enemy 'Mech, unknown design, was targeting her. She focused her crosshairs on the chicken-legged machine and, mindful of her heat, triggered all three of her long range energy weapons. The bolt of plasma from the PPC was joined by a stream of sapphire pulses from the torso-mounted pulse laser and a solid sapphire beam from the neighboring torso mount. Armor sloughed from the enemy machine and heat surged in her cockpit, defying the coolant circulating through her cooling suit.  
  
Incoming missiles came for her, and Evangeline maneuvered to try and avoid them. At last five still struck, though to no effect. With her heat still fairly high, she staggered her fire, giving her cooling systems time to work while whaling away at the foe. Lieutenant von Krager's _Mad Cat_ joined her in pummeling the targeted chicken-walker, placing a barrage of SRMs into the machine to knock more armor loose. His large lasers carved out chunks of armor and internal frame, and the chem-fueled smoke of a damaged engine came from the wound. With her heat back to manageable levels her fingers stroked the firing keys again, this time firing only the lasers at first. The enemy pilot was enough of a natural to keep their machine standing despite losing over two tons worth of armor in a few seconds. Yet their machine was clearly the worse for it, with the lasers that struck her out of action. Lance Lieutenant von Krager fired his missiles and all twelve slammed home on the torso, damaging the gyro and finally sending the green 'Mech down.  
  
Her machine shrieked a warning, and she turned in time to face the missiles coming her way. A distant enemy, in a machine that resembled a _Strider Hawk_ or _Katun_ 'Mech, but with more of an avian profile than even the _Strider Hawk_ , was unloading twenty-salvo LRMs at her lance.  
  
Lieutenant Thomas MacDonald's _Ranger_ , an upgraded version of one of the original 1st generation OmniMechs, stepped closer. Rapid fire lasers, anti-missile lasers, struck at the incoming salvos, and the _Ranger_ 's rotary autocannon blazed away at the distant enemy 'Mech. After a few moments MacDonald's left arm came up and a PPC shot, from the same model as her own, speared the enemy machine from a distance, all while the enemy missiles that survived the anti-missile fire plowed into MacDonald's machine and her own.  
  
The other _Paladin_ of her lance, that of Lieutenant Kevin Kilroy, was configured for direct fire support, which meant a Gauss Rifle paired to twin Mark 14 Vickers-Armstrong lasers. All three weapons fired at the enemy missile 'Mech. The coilgun shot blew a chunk of armor from the 'Mech's chicken leg, while twin beams of sapphire melted armor in rivulets to the street below.  
  
Evangeline figured her comrades had everything in hand, allowing her to divert attention toward another of the enemy machines moving through the wreckage of an apartment. She spit the crosshairs over the holo-image of a winged 'Mech on her holotank. Her systems identified it suddenly, calling it a _Shrike_ , a 95-ton 'Mech, utterly unfamiliar to her.  
  
" _Regimental Command here._ " The voice was recognizable as Colonel Jagdish Patel, the XO of the 8th Strikers. " _We've finished remote updating of all your unit recognition profiles from data handed over by local forces. Put it to good use._ "  
  
" _Roger that_ ," answered her battalion CO, Major Alejandro Perez.  
  
Evangeline's systems showed the loadout of the machine, with UAC-5s, a pair of extended range large lasers, and a ten-salvo LRM launcher. It was designated a "Clan" machine, whatever that was…  
  
She learned a moment later, as the enemy 'Mech focused fire directly on her first. The range of the enemy fire was such that it was clear that "Clan" meant " _Royal_ ", at least to her understanding. This was a top of the line Assault 'Mech.  
  
" _Bravo Lance, focus fire_ ," Lieutenant von Krager ordered. The other machines, turning away from that dying fire support 'Mech, turned their attention on the _Shrike_.  
  
During her education Evangeline's tactics classes showed off some of the performances a gifted MechWarrior could give. This was as good as anything those recordings showed. The _Shrike_ 's pilot was almost untouchable, and every shot was hitting home. Her machine, her lancemates, everyone was getting shot up, and the _Shrike_ was firing like it didn't need to worry about heat at all. She let loose with everything she had just for the enemy 'Mech to suddenly shift or weave, throwing her aim off, and while some armor was lost on the other machine, it didn't compare to the damage they were doing to Lieutenant von Krager's _Mad Cat_.  
  
That they were fighting an elite enemy pilot was clear, and even worse, other "Mechs were coming up, four more in total, and while their designations weren't immediately recognizable, the tonnages were all Assault or Heavy grade. "This is Bravo-Bravo-3, we need fire support, enemy Assault 'Mechs present, possible command unit!" she called, even as autocannon shells from the "Falcon" 'Mech tore through the head module of MacDonald's _Ranger_ , nearly decapitating the machine.  
  
  
  
  
Abraham Farmer still had a fair ammo reserve and a bit of fuel when the call came from Commander Tiraz. " _All elements, urgent request for fire support from 8th Striker. PriFly given the call to us._ "  
  
"Roger that, Squadron Lead," he replied, one of many to do so. "Going in." He swung his _Darter_ about while data from the _Ranger_ gave him the location on the other side of Cirenholm. A burst of fire from the ground clipped him, but given the thick ferro-aluminum armor that protected the _Darter_ it caused no further concern.  
  
He wasn’t the first pilot on scene. One of the 2nd Squadron's pilots, in a _Malleus_ , was already rolling in on an attack run. The hundred ton gunship came in textbook-perfect, no oversteer or correction, just the right amount of throttle. Its Gauss rifles spoke, a triple-thunderclap hurlng hypervelocity slugs at the jade ‘Mech - except it _wasn’t there_. What happened next seemed to play out in slow motion, even though logically it could only have taken a handful of seconds. The _Shrike_ , suspended on pillars of ion flame as two of the Gauss slugs passed below it. One struck home, explosively calving nearly a ton of armour away from the ‘Mech’s right thigh, wrenching it to one side and dragging the torso-mounted lasers and missiles out of play. Its left arm stabbing out, tipped by muzzle-flame. Hundreds of depleted uranium-tipped slugs splintering armour, shattering ferroglass - and tearing the pilot beneath apart. Time sped back up as the _Shrike_ landed, the _Malleus_ wobbling in the air for a moment before slamming into the ground. The fusion core let go an instant later, a brief flare of white flame reducing the fighter to a blackened shell before the failsafes choked the reaction.  
  
Farmer bit back a vicious curse, angling around and flipping his main trigger to missiles. Deflection was too high to try a particle cannon shot, thanks to that damn jumping-jack move, but the Streak racks might just work.  
  
Lock tone sounded, loud and clear on both racks. _And no AMS for you, you son of a bitch_ , he thought with bloodthirsty satisfaction as he hit the firing stud. Forty missiles fired in a swift ripple from the pods on his wings, each missile tracking onto the _Shrike_ while it descended back to the ground. He kept his altitude and kicked his thrust back to max, preparing for another pass.  
  
  
  
  
The white heat of her earlier fury had faded, leaving Malvina Hazen with only cold, glassy clarity. Even as the missiles - striking with the surety of Streak guidance - hammered into _Black Rose’s_ frontal armour, spreading bands of yellow and orange across the damage display, her focus never slipped. She twisted her wounded right leg out of the line of fire, taking the barrage on undamaged plating.  
  
 _Imminent death is curiously liberating_. For she _was_ going to die; these interlopers had seen to that, whoever they were. But that freed her, of responsibility and greater concerns; of the need to _do_ anything but kill as many of them as possible before her end.  
  
“Janovech, keep those fighters off us. Anwar, Craig with me,” she ordered, pushing _Black Rose_ to full speed. “Star Commander Corwin, flank and engage!”  
  
“ _Aff, my Khan!”_ four voices replied, her command Nova splitting and reforming in practised, disciplined moves. Janovech’s _Ryoken II_ , autocannon already spitting out spent shell casings and flak shells, spun in place, chasing the strafing fighters.  
  
Particle cannon spitting lightning bolts, Craig brought his _Hellstar_ to bear against two of the newcomers; a modified _Black Knight_ and what her systems identified as some freeborn bastardisation of the _Mad Cat_ \- were they the _dezgra_ exiled Wolves, then, finally stirring from their den on Arc-Royal? - and the cursed Lyran _Awesome_ , a machine ancient when the Founders were young, bleeding coolant and limping on a fused knee but still refusing to _die_ , while Anwar followed her.  
  
 _For the throat_. Their commanders were _hers_.  
  
  
  
  
Farmer's sensors screamed in warning and illuminated, via his HUD, the direct of fire coming form below. One of the enemy 'Mechs, one his systems were calling a " _Ryoken II_ ", was firing toward him as he commenced another run. He banked before his missile launchers could get a lock while his systems registered a pair of minor hits, consistent with a cluster autocannon. He fired his engines up to get the range to start another pass attempt. "Looks like we've got an AA 'Mech out there," he said into his tac-comm line. "Keep an eye on that." He swung around while another _Darter_ , his wingman Ensign al-Rashid, came into formation with him. "Let's deal with that _Shrike_ 'Mech," he said, "leave the _Ryoken_ to the others."  
  
" _Roger that_ ," the Dar-es-Salaam-born pilot said, following him as they started another pass. They kept a higher altitude, given the enemy machine's great jump capability, and readied to fire.  
  
The _Shrike_ seemed to feel them coming, or perhaps did see them coming. Either way the pilot, with their enormous skill, literally _pirouetted_ out of the crosshairs just as Farmer triggered his weapons. His PPC turned sand to glass, but hit nothing, and the SureShot launchers refused to fire. The same apparently happened with al-Rashid, who radioed " _No joy. That is one agile pilot._ "  
  
"We'll get 'em yet. Come on," he said, preparing for another pass.   
  
  
  
  
Evangeline's 'Mech wobbled as particle cannon blasts from one of the enemy command unit's 'Mechs - a " _Hellstar_ " according to the "Kell Hound" IDs - took armor off enough that her left side was becoming completely exposed. One jump jet was showing a critical fault and the aim on her Mark 18 (Pulse) Laser was off due to damage to the aiming mechanism. _At least the heat sinks haven't been hurt_ , she thought while putting her crosshairs on the _Hellstar_ and giving it the return treatment with her own particle cannon and laser. The rest of the lance were busy trying (and failing) to contain an assault-weight _Warhammer_ mod and that _Shrike_ , moving like the pilot was almost _one_ with their machine.  
  
Her opponent was quite capable too, evading her PPC blast, while the sapphire beam of her laser carved a valley of molten material from his shoulder. She triggered the left arm's medium lasers next, twin emerald beams that sliced another chunk from the enemy, and waited patiently for her heat to cycle back down before firing the damaged pulse laser. It stitched sapphire light along the flank of the _Hellstar_ , a glancing blow, and its particle cannons scourged her machine once more, three out of four shots striking home despite her desperate maneuvering. This time the pulse laser simply died, a direct hit that exposed the side of her machine front to back, and her _Paladin_ 's left knee locked up from the molten material wedging the joint. She fell this time, off-balance from the leg. The enemy pilot brought their weapon up and, despite the range, she _knew_ the next shot would spear her cockpit and kill her instantly.  
  
The shot never came, with the next salvo instead firing behind her, and for good reason. Captain Kincaid's _Paladin_ , a _Striker Primary_ configuration, sailed through the air over her on five jets of burning thrust, moving quickly enough that only two of the PPCs struck her and only took armor away at that. In mid-air the ultra autocannon on the left arm flashed to life, firing at double rate (and thankfully not jamming) to inflict heavy damage on the _Hellstar_ 's flank. Captain Kincaid landed and triggered her PPC and medium lasers, cooking her 'Mech with heat but delivering a strong blow to the heavier foe that made use of the damage Evangeline had already dealt.  
  
Yet even overheated, the _Paladin_ had one last weapon to call upon. Metal shone in the sun of Timkovichi as the right hand opened and the configuration's sword came out of the OmniPod in the forearm, extending to full length in the seconds before Kincaid thrust the blade into the _Hellstar_ 's damaged armor. The enemy machine faltered, coolant flowing like blood from its chest wound, and the pilot drew back, firing wildly and missing given how well Kincaid kept her _Paladin_ moving. Kincaid kept on him, swinging the blade again and slicing through the barrel of the right arm's particle projector, while her left arm fired two ruby beams point-blank into the enemy machine's wound. The entire right side of the _Hellstar_ was becoming a wreck. Elated, Evangeline forced her back to its feet and tried to get a shot, but Kincaid was still in the way. "Captain, I've got your back!"  
  
There was no answer, the Captain's concentration was total. Her blade swiped empty air, as the _Hellstar_ pilot spun away to evade it, but they weren't evading the torso-mounted PPC. The _Hellstar_ 's chest, covered in wounds from Gauss Rifle strikes from strafing _Malleus_ fighters, broke at the lightning of Kincaid's weapon, exposing the machinery within. The sword flashed again, this time a thrust that went into the wound and speared the engine itself. The _Hellstar_ fell, never to rise again.  
  
By now Evangeline was tracking the other foes, but she was as ill-prepared for any for the maneuver of the _Shrike_. As if sensing its comrade fell, the machine spun - evading PPC shots from the venerable but still dangerous _Awesome_ ; and God, Evangeline had _never_ seen a ‘Mech that damaged still on its feet, even in battlerom records, the legendarily thick armour more holes than plating and its heat exchangers glowing white-hot on infrared - and fired into the rear of Kincaid's 'Mech. Double-fires from its ultra autocannons, just as dangerous as Kincaid's own single ultra had proven, but unlikely to precisely hit the same target.  
  
And yet, they _did_.  
  
The shells blew apart the head of the _Paladin_ from behind, destroying the entire module over the course of about two seconds. Evangeline's heart fell to see her company CO die so quickly, so _easily_ , like her impressive victory of just seconds ago was nothing. She wanted to _kill_ that _Shrike_ pilot…  
  
" _Go for the_ Ryoken _,_ " urged Lieutenant von Krager. " _Now!_ "  
  
Given the shape she was in, Evangeline wasn't sure she could duel another enemy 'Mech, but gratefully, she wouldn't have to. Not alone.  
  
The Armored Infantry was here.  
  
Her target, and another, already had the veteran battle armor infantry swarming them. The _Striker_ -clad infantry troopers were doing the swarming, a squad striking at the legs of the souped up _Warhammer_ , a second squad already on its torso and shoulders shooting into sensitive spots, while a squad of _Peltast_ heavy armored troopers fired salvos from their triple SRM launchers into the enemy machine, pelting it with the equivalent firepower of three SRM6s.  
  
The _Ryoken_ 's autocannons briefly let off on the anti-air fire, instead focusing its efforts on the _Striker_ infantry trying to get at it as well. She watched the autocannons' cluster rounds rip into a squad, wounding or killing one of the six troopers, but the survivors pressed on, firing away with their BA-scale Gauss Rifles. Those weapons were too small to do much damage, but they'd do far more if the remaining soldiers, and any other squads, could get there.  
  
Granted, succeeding in that might not happen if they didn't get help. Evangeline noted her lance wasn't in shape for it. MacDonald's _Ranger_ was down, missing its head module — he'd ejected — and Kilroy's _Paladin_ was trying to fight the _Warhammer_. That just left her, and her hobbled 'Mech.  
  
 _A good thing I'm built for range!_  
  
The _Ryoken II_ 's movements were simplistic enough that it was easy getting the crosshairs on it, and when she pulled the triggers, her lasers and PPC hit home with every shot. The blue beam cut through the barrel of one of the deadly autocannons and the emerald beams from her left arm sliced up armor on the machine. Her PPC scourged armor right from the chest.  
  
That got the _Ryoken_ _II_ 's attention. It's autocannons roared to life, and multiple cluster munitions struck at her wounded machine. Her engine gave off a warning light, indicating it'd been hit in the exposed left side, and the damaged left leg lost what little armor it had left. _But nothing critical's truly hit, the engine's not out yet!  
  
Also a good thing I don't have ammo!_  
  
Defiant to the fact of her 'Mech's increased heat level, she followed up with another shot. This time her lasers hit home on the other 'Mech's left side, effectively reproducing the damage she'd already suffered.  
  
Except the _Ryoken II_ _did_ have ammo.  
  
One of the lasers was the culprit, as later battleROM footage would confirm. The cluster munitions and missiles in that side of the 'Mech cooked off from the heat of the laser, producing an explosion that blew open that side of the _Ryoken II_. The existence of cellular ammunition storage saved the rest of the 'Mech, although the unarmed limb there now hung uselessly with its control systems severed.  
  
The three _Striker_ troopers made it to the _Ryoken_ 's left leg, where they promptly started to fire into the moving parts. The enemy machine's foot locked up and the pilot, already suddenly down over a third of their machine's mass worth of material, couldn't keep the 'Mech balanced. It toppled over onto its good side. The armored infantry promptly jumped away. " _All yours, Lieutenant_ ," a voice crackled over the common tactical line. The infantry returned to their fallen comrade, clearing the way for her.  
  
"Thank you," she replied, her crosshairs already on the 'Mech's exposed guts. Her heat dipped just low enough to be safe before she fired everything yet again.  
  
Given her engine damage the heat flooded the cockpit, and her cooling suit struggled against it. As the sweat covered her face Evangeline watched the effect of her shots into the enemy 'Mech's exposed side. The particle projection cannon and lasers stabbed at the engine and gyro, doing a particular number on the latter, enough that the pilot's efforts to stand ended before the _Ryoken II_ could even begin shifting weight. She waited for her weapons to recycle before, due to heat, using staggering fire, again on her opponent's exposed torso.  
  
This time she was rewarded with a brief fountain of fusion plasma, after which the _Ryoken II_ died.  
  
 _My first combat kill_. It was an exhilarating thought, especially since she'd not expected to get one so soon. Not during a training mission. It'd come during some anti-piracy campaign with the Ghastillans or Principate, or maybe in a skirmish with the Combine or the (Oriento-)Capellans. Not… not like _this_.  
  
Despite her machine's hobbling, Evangeline made it turn around, tracking the insanely-effective _Shrike._  
  
Just in time to watch Lieutenant von Krager die.  
  
  
  
  
Oh, this one was _good_ , worthy.  
  
Ammunition warnings were flickering on Malvina’s heads-up display, but she dismissed them. Only a few salvos of missiles left, and almost no autocannon rounds. It would be _enough_.  
  
The _Black Knight_ pilot had been a gift, truly; blind, not watching their back. But this one - they fought, as the Falconers put it, by the claws, torso weaving constantly in a sinuous evasive pattern that kept her lasers’ bite from telling. So why was she not going for the cockpit?  
  
 _I want to see what you have_.  
  
Pushing forward, Malvina lofted a missile volley, spending the last of her autocannon rounds at the same time. Armour spalled away in useless splinters, driving the _Mad Cat_ back one step. Two.  
  
The lighter machine hunched back for a moment, as though trying to guard its wounded armour. Then it stormed forward, hitting back with everything it had.  
  
Streak six-racks from the shoulders. Large and medium lasers. Guided by the aim of a warrior, blooded in _real_ battle, scything into her wounded leg armour, sending molten composite flowing in glowing rivulets down the shin plating; one beam snapped the empty ammo links for her autocannon.  
  
“ _You … lose_ ,” a heat-drained voice came over the general address channel as the _Mad Cat’s_ laser arm levelled at her cockpit, building power to strike - slowed by the burden of that all-out salvo.  
  
In answer, Malvina simply fired her own lasers. Straight and true into the _Mad Cat’s_ cockpit, a glowing laser-cut through armour and ferroglass cockpit shield.  
  
 _Perfect_.  
  
Beam fire hammered into _Black Rose_ from every angle, armour melting and breaking away as she tried to force the ‘Mech around, myomer muscle cables snapping. The right shin gave, suddenly, endosteel bones shot in two, sending her stumbling forward into the path of the _Awesome’s_ last particle cannon shot.  
  
A blinding flash. The smell of ozone and the sound of shrieking metal.  
  
Darkness.


	3. Cleanup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The shooting is over, but now comes the hard part: making sense of it all.

_**AFS Arcadia**_ **, In Orbit  
Timkovichi, Coventry Province  
Lyran Commonwealth  
12 August 3145**  
  
  
The reports from the surface were encouraging, at least, or so Lord Paul thought. The "Jade Falcons" were being smashed by a concentrated effort of the 8th Strikers, the 1st Kell Hounds, and one of the 4th Grenadiers' regiments, while the other was busy assisting the… "other" Kell Hounds in fighting the "Hell's Horses".  
  
While it wasn't unheard of for military units to adopt animal names as unofficial nicknames or code names, entire organized bandit forces like this sounded outlandish. Especially given the reports he was getting of the sophistication of their technology, much of it "Royal" Terran equivalent instead of Star League vintage. Where did such people get the means to produce that level of technology?  
  
These were questions occupying him as Lord Paul entered the wardroom on one of the ship's grav decks. Arcadian design philosophy typically doubled or even tripled the number of grav decks per ship, accepting the increased maintenance needs for the expanded facilities and living quarters for the plentiful times when a WarShip could not be kept under thrust. Grav Deck 2, for instance, had the wardroom and infirmary, complete with surgical theaters, every room configured to switch between the orientation of thrust-provided gravity to the spinning grav decks.  
  
Waiting for him were a number of his captains, as well as Admiral Kruger and Captain Dante of the Ghastillan fleet. While the Royal Federation officers were in their red duty uniforms with black Naval highlighting and blue trim, the Ghastillians had blue uniforms with an orange barnous draped on the shoulders and similarly orange highlights. Admiral Kruger saluted with the others and Lord Paul returned it all. "At ease. General Bridger reports that the battle below is entering a clean-up phase, and S&R missions are already under way for the enemy ships destroyed in orbit. That leaves the more pressing matter."  
  
"This." The word came from Captain (Lady) Karla Proctor-Steiner, CO of the _Arcadia_ and a granddaughter of the late High King Ethan Proctor-Steiner, as she tapped a key and lit up the wardroom's display holotank with a three-dimensional image of the "jump field" persisting high above Timkovichi. Her bright blue eyes matched the color on the image, which played over her bronze skin in the light. "We've all logged _hundreds_ of jumps in our lives. Nobody has ever heard of anything like this?"  
  
There was a shaking of heads. "It felt like what they say a misjump would feel like," Admiral Kruger noted, his accent a thick Teutonic one. "I thought I was dying."  
  
"I think we all did," Lord Paul noted solemnly. "So, we have no idea what it is. A theory, then?"  
  
A voice with Skye burr spoke up. Captain Quinton Fitzhugh was a tall spacer man who looked more like a permanent JumpShip dweller than a normal WarShip captain. Since he was the commander of the transport JumpShips, that was unsurprising. "Aye. Whatever happened, I ken it's our way home."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"What I mean, sir, is that I heard th' broadcasts from below. This isnae our Inner Sphere," Fitzhugh insisted. "I ken how it sounds, but think about it. These folk aren't like anythin' we've seen before. Th' planetary authorities aren't even th' right ones." He looked expectantly at the Ghastillian officers.  
  
Kruger shook his head. "They are not. They insist they are in the Coventry Province of the Lyran Commonwealth. They know nothing of Ghastilla."  
  
"Right." The JumpShip skipper sounded satisfied. "So let's let our minds play a bit, dinnae fash yeself about what sounds 'real', just what might be. We have a misjump of sorts that drops us intae orbit of a planet, tae close for a pirate point. An' everything sounds wrong here. The locals dinnae call themselves Ghastillian, they say they're Lyran. These 'Clans' are about an' none tae friendly. Even th' HPGs are actin' strange. Everythin' says th' world isnae right. So stands tae reason we're not in th' right world."  
  
"You mean like some of those science-fiction holovids of alternate histories?" Captain Choudhury asked. "We're in such a history?"  
  
"Aye."  
  
"So what does that have to do with getting home?"  
  
Fitzhugh gestured to the image. "Well, it's a field. A K-F field, alright. I say we fly intae th' thing, see what happens. Fly a remote drone in first, then bring it back."  
  
"Assuming the drone survives, we may still be cut off from contact," Lord Paul pointed out. "We won't be able to bring it back through."  
  
"So we leave a program in th' thing, tell it tae turn about an' come home", Fitzhugh suggested. "Or attach some holos an' have it transmit, tell people tae send it back if they find it."  
  
Lord Paul considered the proposal. He considered any thought of flying in a manned ship, even a DropShuttle, to be out of the question, at least until they had more information. But Fitzhugh's approach would give them a chance of finding out what they needed to know without unnecessarily risking lives. "Alright. Can this be done?"  
  
"Work the drones right, and yes," Captain Kevin Sheffield of the _Emancipator_ said. "It can be."  
  
"Then let's have our technicians get to work," Lord Paul said. "Anything else?"  
  
"Any word from below?" asked Captain Choudhury. The Bolanese man's expression was tight with uncertainty, but so were most of the others. Everything had happened so fast, and now the questions were just piling in. Could they get home? Would they get home? What was going on here? Having something concrete and certain to speak of was a relief from that, at least. "Have we suppressed those murderous 'Clans'?"  
  
"General Bridger's last report indicated so, yes," Lord Paul said. "Enemy forces are defeated or surrendered, with a few potential diehards left." He nodded to Kruger. "The 4th is assisting the local units in dealing with them." He didn't see fit to refer to said local units by their self-described name. _If Captain Fitzhugh is right, then at least it explains the disparity. Two Inner Spheres, different histories, but yet Kell Hounds in both? I wonder what else is repeated?_ "We will let the Techs get to work on the matter of the drone. In the meantime, allow the crews to stand down from combat alert and see to casualties. Assure them everything is handled."  
  
He was answered with "Aye"s and nods and called the meeting to a close. Everyone with the exception of Admiral Kruger filed out. "If your JumpShip driver is correct, it would change so much," Kruger said. "For all of us."  
  
"Indeed. Especially…" He hesitated, but Kruger's expectant look prompted him to keep speaking. "...especially if this is something that can be _repeated_."  
  
" _Ja_ ," was the only reply his allied counterpart gave.  
  
  
  
  
The city of Cirenholm was yet to return to normal, but at least the killing was over. Now it was time for the medics and local rescue personnel to see to the injured. Some of the intact Sunhawk 'Mechs aided as they could, the MechWarriors following directions on moving debris with hand-actuator arms and the like.  
  
Evangeline wasn't one of them. Her 'Mech, damaged so thoroughly, now stood among the other damaged units in the shadow of the landed _Charles Sinclair_. She sat on the foot of her machine, neurohelmet cast aside, letting the cool wind blow through her dark hair and sunburnt face while her mind struggled to process everything. Under her dark red cooling suit with blue trim and gold highlights, she could feel the tank top and shorts were still soaked in sweat. By all rights she should be looking for a shower and a change into a fresh suit, but her mind wasn't focused on such. _Lance Lieutenant von Krager's dead. So is MacDonald. And Captain Kincaid died… just like that._  
  
She'd watched their deaths, Kincaid and then von Krager. The latter, coming from a machine that by all rights should've fallen well before it got to that point, seemed a particular mockery. As if their enemy _simply wouldn't die_. She remembered pumping laser fire into the enemy machine and watching it essentially disintegrate, yet she kept firing, screaming for it to go down, even when it was and her lasers and PPC were accomplishing nothing but melting scrap and the ground beneath, overheating her 'Mech until it finally shut down. Yet she was still squeezing the triggers for several seconds before Major Perez's voice crackled over her speakers. " _Stand down Lieutenant! Stand down now!_ "  
  
_They have to be dead. They have to be. The Captain, Lance Lieutenant von Krager, Tom, they can all rest knowing that thing's_ dead _._  
  
She wanted to cry. She wanted to curl up and just cry at it all. The death and devastation… what was it for? What was it all for? How had her parents endured this?  
  
A shadow cast over her. She looked up into the sunburnt face of Lieutenant Kilroy, in a bedraggled cooling suit like hers. The unit patch of the 8th Strikers on his sleeve matched hers, and his rank insignia of a single silver bar likewise. "Well, lass, looks like we're fit for the lobster pot," he said cheerfully in an Arcadian Islay burr. It lacked the thickness of a Skye accent like the late Thomas MacDonald's.  
  
"You heard?"  
  
"Aye." He plopped down onto the dirt and grass beside her. "The Lance Loo and the Captain. Bad day, all around."  
  
"We got them though," Evangeline said. "That… that _thing_ is dead."  
  
"You did that, right? Heard the Major 'imself had to talk you down," Kilroy remarked. "Aye, you've got a fine angry streak in ye, Eva. That pilot's lucky to be alive."  
  
Her eyes widened at hearing that. "What? The pilot's alive?"  
  
"It's what I heard from the salvage crews. Not in the best of shapes, with her cockpit the mess it was, but they've got her in the infirmary on the _Sinclair_."  
  
Evangeline clenched her fists. _How? How is that possible? God, how could it be right?! Captain Kincaid and Lieutenant von Krager are dead and that… that_ monster _still lives?!_  
  
"Woh." Kilroy took her hands. "Don't ye fash yourself about it. I can't imagine she'll live long given the number you and that _Awesome_ pilot did to her 'Mech."  
  
"She's lived too long already," Eva sighed bitterly.  
  
"Why don't ye come with me? They've got a mess set up. I think ye can use some grub."  
  
"I'm…" The truth was she was hungry, but could she trust her stomach with good the way she felt? She felt sick at knowing the killer of his superiors, officers who fought to keep her alive, was still breathing. It was a mockery by a cruel universe.  
  
Yet the look on Kilroy's face would brook no opposition. Evangeline sighed, nodded, and stood, following him toward the growing bivouac outside of the _AFS Charles Sinclair_.  
  
It wasn't hard for them to find the mess tent, given the smells coming from within. The cuisine was heavily Arc-Royal, a combination of Germanic and Irish influences that heavily favored sausage and potatoes and all the varieties thereof. The cooks were a mix of the 8th Strikers' commissary personnel and what Evangeline figured to be the locals. A bowl of what looked like a sausage stew and a healthy portion of potatoes in a white gravy were provided to her and Kilroy.  
  
They were about to take a seat when they were approached by a figure in a field uniform, undoubtedly hastily added to cover a cooling vest and shorts.  
  
“Hey.” A slight, wiry young woman, with dark hair and skin and pale grey eyes, she had one arm bound up - with a green-and-blue checkered scarf, of all things - across her chest in a gel-filled support cast, and half her face swathed in bandages. “Leutnant Allison Palisser, Timkovichi Armoured Guard. Just … just wanted to say thanks, really, for saving our lives back there.”  
  
"Leutnant." Kilroy grinned and, after setting his food down, saluted in respect. "I'm guessin' you were that _Awesome_ pilot? Well done job there. Your machine looked almost as bad as that wanker ye brought down. As for the introductions, I'm Lieutenant Kevin Kilroy, 1st Battalion 8th Strikers. This is my lancemate, Lieutenant Evangeline Penton-Vallejo." He gestured to Evangeline while she likewise set her tray down.  
  
Allison saluted in turn. “I’m willing to bet you’ve both got me by date of rank, Leutnants,” she smiled, very slightly. “And, yes, _Say Your Prayers_ is mine. She’ll be fine, given a few weeks in a repair bay; my great-grandmother had her shot down almost to bare structure _twice_ in the Jihad and still made it through.” Allison’s expression sobered. “Not like your friends, I’m afraid. Still, I’m glad Lady Trillian got you here in time to save our necks.”  
  
Given the pain hadn't receded at all, Evangeline was surprised at the stab of pain she felt at the reminder. Only at the last moment did the final sentence register enough for her to react. "Lady Trillian?"  
  
“Trillian Steiner-Davion, _ja_ ,” Allison replied. “She said she was going to get Colonel Kell whatever reinforcements she could, but _this_ is a whole lot more than we were expecting.”  
  
There was no mistaking the confusion on their faces, and Allison was quick to pick up on it. "Lady Trillian didn't send you?"  
  
"No, she didn't," Kilroy answered. "To be honest, I'm not sure who could be said to have sent us except God Almighty Himself. We were jumpin' into Timkovichi for some trainin' and war games with the Principate and Canopians, then it felt like we were bein' pressed through a grinder, suddenly we're in orbit and gettin' the call to make a combat drop under hostile fire."  
  
“Canopians?” Allison blinked. “Why the hell would they be halfway across the Sphere for _exercises_? Especially with us - _we_ hate them almost as much as the Davions do!”  
  
Evangeline watched the confusion deepen on her lancemate's face. She was numb to it all at the moment, even if her mind felt a catch at it all. The Canopians were part of the Spinward Pact, and had been since the start. They'd even sided with the Royal Federation against Scipio O'Reilly during the short-lived Scipian Dominate of the late 31st Century, if she remembered right. They'd certainly done nothing to win the hatred of people in former Lyran space.  
  
"The Canopians are, well, loose in their morals, as my mum would've put it, but what's this from? They've been allied to the Lyran Alliance states since…" Kilroy stopped and blinked. "Oh, this is givin' me a headache. Ye're talkin' about stuff like a Jihad and a Lady Steiner- _Davion_ , and now this, and I ken ye're havin' trouble with what we're sayin'. And with that weird jump, it's like the world's..."  
  
"...gone wrong," said Evangeline. "Like something slipped loose in the gyro and now you can't keep your 'Mech straight."  
  
“Hell, the instructors at Buena were always telling me to talk less, listen more.” Allison blushed a little. “Sorry, for, well, assuming.”  
  
"Well, it's not every day that ships jump into high orbit of a planet, that's got us all out of sorts," Kilroy pointed out. He gestured to an extra seat at the table. "Anyways, why not get to yer tatties while they're warm? That was a crazy fight with that winged 'Mech and I know I've got the stomach grumbles."  
  
“I’m good with that,” Allison agreed. “Bringing down a Khan’s hungry work.” At their looks of confusion, she explained, “That was Malvina Hazen, the Falcon Khan herself, we were taking on; that black rose symbol on the _Shrike_ , it’s the blood-mad bitch’s personal emblem, LCI are positive on _that_.”  
  
They didn't need to specifically know what Clans were to guess what a 'Khan' was, given standard military education usually touched on the Mongols at least. "We were fighting a command unit, I knew, but their _main_ command unit?" Eva said, realizing it all made sense. "We should've called for more support."  
  
"Aye, well, it came quick enough, but that Hazen woman's an insanely good MechWarrior." Kilroy dug a fork into his potatoes and gathered a bite. "She took down a _Malleus_ like it was the slowest helo ye'd ever see. We'd all best be thankin' God we're still alive."  
  
“Yeah.” Allison nodded, her expression pensive. “Before you guys hit the ground, I was … pretty sure I was gonna die in the next thirty seconds. Which wouldn’t have been that bad, but I was pretty sure we were gonna _lose_ , too.”  
  
"If she's the one who ordered all the killings we were sent to stop..." ... _then Captain Kincaid and Lieutenant von Krager and Tom MacDonald died for something_ , Eva finished in her mind, while aloud she only managed, "...then it was worth it. I mean, all of it. Losing Captain Kincaid and Lieutenant von Krager."  
  
Kilroy swallowed and nodded once at Eva. "Aye, they'll rest easy then. And I think they'd be wantin' ye to see to yer needs, Eva." He gestured to her food.  
  
That prompted her to take her first bite. The taste was what she expected, but with a tinge of sourness to it. Not from the food, but her thoughts.  
  
  
  
  
By the time he arrived at the Kell Hounds’ Praetorian mobile HQ, Jacob Tanhause had managed to change into a clean uniform and - with the aid of half an e-rat bar and a mug of cold coffee - felt something close to human again. He waited for a moment while the infanteer on guard duty checked his ID, and then waved him on.  
  
Colonel Kell and Leftenant-Colonel Allard were immediately obvious, standing at the holographic contour map and discussing the day’s action. They were studies in opposites; Nadia Allard was young for her rank, a short - just barely over the LCAF’s minimum height requirement - and slim brunette, wearing an immaculately tailored and pressed uniform, and combat engineering collar tabs, speaking in low, quiet tones while standing almost immobile; Evan Kell was _big_ , tall and broad-shouldered, his respectable-but-worn battledress jacket half-unbuttoned over a cooling vest as he made expansive gestures over the map table, red-blonde hair greying at the temples and a v-shaped scar cutting across the right hand side of his face, just missing his eye.  
  
Conversation stopped as they noticed him, and Evan waved Jacob over to join them. “Good to see you, Kommandant - Jacob.” He gestured at the map, scattered with times and details of actions. “We were just discussing today, and waiting for you and the CO of this Eighth Striker to show up. It’s been a helluva day.”  
  
Jacob nodded at that, smiling without any kind of humour. “Better than it _could’ve_ gone, sir.”  
  
That got a deep, booming, “ _Hah!_ ” and a slap on the back that nearly knocked Jacob sprawling from Evan. “True enough, that; and I’d have been blamed for it going that wrong. I know, Nadia, I know,” he raised a hand to cut off Allard as she started to speak, “You didn’t guess she’d be willing to wipe out her own forces to get us either, but I _should_ have guessed. Kelswa-Steiner _told_ us she’d used nukes on Skye and Glengarry, it’s not like Warship fire’s an escalation from that. And Malvina’s shown us a dozen times that she doesn’t _care_ about _any_ lives if they get in the way of winning.”  
  
“Be that as it may, sir,” Nadia replied, “I think we can save the recriminations for later. General Bridger will be here soon, and we need to bring Kommandant Tanhause into the overall picture.”  
  
“Right.” Evan stepped over to the control panel, refocusing the map on the rolling hills to the west. “The situation is, more or less, we’ve won. Both Falcon trinaries are down, thanks to our new allies, and it turns out the Horses weren’t that happy to die for Malvina’s victory when they figured out that was what almost happened. Still figuring out their losses, but we’ve confirmed a Cluster and a half of casualties, and three trinaries surrendering to us. Gotta check with the Arcadians what they’ve confirmed, but it looks like only part of one Cluster - Triple-Sixth Mechanised, from the markers; lot of ProtoMechs - made it out; into the hills, going guerilla.”  
  
Their conversation came to an end with the distant _whump-whump-whump_ of helo blades whipping in the air. They emerged to see a pair of VTOLs on approach, larger transport models although still having just one rotor blade apiece. One was in orange and black coloring with an insignia of three black arrows pointing outward through a red circle with a white-and-black ring around it. The other had a sky blue and white paint job with a golden-winged white hawk. They were virtually the same model, with differences making it clear they were OmniVTOLs and not simply variants of a design.  
  
The craft came to a landing. From the first emerged a man in a gray uniform with orange rank tabs on the lapels and a black beret on his head. The presence of stars on the rank tabs made the flag rank obvious. A similar insignia was on the woman that disembarked beside him, dark-toned skin and a lithe build, although her rank tab had an eagle instead of stars.  
  
From the other VTOL came a middle-aged, silver-haired man of dark ebon skin, wearing a red uniform with a three star insignia on the colors, arranged in a square, with blue cuffs and shoulder borders and gold trim. The name "Bridger" was in black on the right breast. A tan-faced, shorter woman to his side had a one-star square on her collar and the name "Laguna". A man of dark bronze complexion followed her, a golden hawk insignia in the place of the star, and a bindi mark on his forehead with the name "Patel". The latter two each had the same unit patch that Jacob recognized from the units that dropped to his troops' aid.  
  
It was the final pair of figures that caught their eyes and made the world seem to freeze.  
  
There were differences in the uniforms, certainly, very minor things, but the sandy-haired woman with crow's feet set into the outer sides of her eyes and the taller man of light brown complexion were clad in a uniform that resembled a hound's head, with the ears reaching the shoulders and one acting as the clasp for a half-cape. It was the unmistakable design of the Kell Hounds' own duty and dress uniforms.  
  
"Colonel Kell?" The man with the three-star insignia spoke first. His accent was a firm tone, not quite Star League English. "I'm General Bridger. Lieutenant General Sir DeMarcus Bridger, in full, commander of Training Force Siegfried. These are my subordinates. General Joachim von Istenberg of the 4th Ghastillan Grenadiers, his XO Colonel Lady Louisa von der Kemp. Brigadier Lady Ana Maria Laguna, Commander of the 8th Strikers, and her XO Colonel Jagdish Patel." Bridger's voice took on a certain tone that made it clear he knew the next part would be the most difficult for them. "And Colonel Deirdre Ward and Lieutenant Colonel John Fromm of the 1st Kell Hounds."  
  
Jacob was the least afflicted by the announcement, which immediately hit his perception of reality and skittered off. But it was impossible for Evan and Nadia to enjoy the same detachment. Nadia paled, as though she’d seen a ghost; Evan’s reaction was more aggressive, face reddening as his big, shovel-like hands with their brawler’s scars clenched and unclenched in time with his breathing. Then, after a moment, he forced himself to breath out, slowly and fully, hands resting at his side. “Well, this is a _hell_ of a lot more effort than anyone but my niece’d go to for a joke,” Evan commented, “so I guess I’ve gotta take you as you are, Colonel Ward. At least for now. As for introductions on my end,” Evan gestured, “I’m Colonel Evan Kell, also of the Kell Hounds; my exec and CO of the First Regiment, Leftenant-Colonel Nadia Allard; and Kommandant Jacob Tanhause, senior surviving officer of the Timkovichi Armoured Guard.”  
  
Everyone present noticed the reactions. A certain sympathy showed on Ward's face, but she didn't flinch from Evan's immediate response either, and Fromm had the same look Tanhause had. "Colonels. Kommandant." Bridger nodded. "Before we get to the long-tailed meguana in the room, so to speak, we might as well finish business first. The hostile force is mostly surrendered or destroyed, and prisoners have been taken. The enemy forces that escaped, including those over-sized battle armors, will be pursued by the 8th Strikers as needed to keep them from going to ground. As for prisoners, a few of them committed suicide, or attempted it, while others are already inquiring about serving in our forces. As if we would simply recruit them. Frankly we have no clue why they're behaving this way, but I figure you can explain."  
  
“They’re totally serious, General.” Evan smiled. “I’ll see about my staff getting you a full primer, but, well - _most_ Clanners don’t have any issue with losing what they figure’s a good, clean fight, and they’re thinking you’ll take them as bondsmen - let ‘em earn their way back to combat status working for you. I’m guessing the suicide attempts were ones who couldn’t deal there; _bondsref_ , they call it.”  
  
Bridger and the others processed the thought. It was Colonel von der Kemp who finally spoke. "So, they willingly go over to their enemies, and those that refuse commit suicide? And… this isn't a ruse? They are loyal to you?"  
  
"Been that way with us for nearly a century, and among their own for longer," Evan answered. "They stay loyal to the new boss. It's just how their culture works, how they’ve been taught to think about it; that you’ve beaten them, and the better warrior deserves to be in charge. And, like I said, most of ‘em don’t tend to hold grudges over what they reckon’s a fair fight."  
  
"Given your casualties, and that you have experience with them, perhaps you should take responsibility then," Bridger suggested. "It's clear that there's a lot we must learn about… everything. And about what's gone on." He nodded to Colonel Ward. "Including the fact that we have two different versions of the Kell Hounds here."  
  
"Well, he's got the look of a Kell, I'll give him that," Ward remarked. "And the uniform's a bit off, but feels right. Colors too. I'm hoping Archduke Ethan's heirs come out like this one."  
  
_And now it is time to address the long-tailed meguana,_ thought Bridger. "I suppose now that the killing has subsided we need to get to the bottom of things, like how there can be two different sets of Kell Hounds." With Admiral Marik having informed him of Captain Fitzhugh's idea, Bridger asked, "Have you folks ever heard of the Royal Federation? Or the Kingdom of Ghastilla?"  
  
His answer was three shaking heads. "The only Federation I'm familiar with is the Federated Suns," Evan answered. "Which you clearly aren't; wouldn’t be, they’re fighting for their lives last we heard; and they haven’t put together a fleet like yours since Cholame."  
  
Bridger nodded. "Alright. The Arcadian Free March?"  
  
"Only Arcadia I've seen is a quiet border world down by Marik space, near Dar-es-Salaam," Jacob remarked. "I was stationed there when I was a Leutnant, back in ‘11, actually. Nice people, but definitely not the center of their own March or anything."  
  
"Well, I'll be damned," Bridger muttered. "Maybe that old spacer is right..."  
  
  
  
  
The _AFS Emancipator_ drew as close to the field as any of the ships in the Arcadian force dared. In the ship's command center, Captain Sheffield maneuvered himself through the micro-G and into his command couch, which he strapped himself into. "Our status?"  
  
A Technical Officer, Iola Montague, spoke up. "The drone's been prepared, sir. If it loses contact with us it'll send out a broad band call. If we're in luck, there'll be a JumpShip close enough to pick up the signal before long and send her back."  
  
"But it won't come back itself?"  
  
"No sir." That reply came from Lieutenant Commander Harold Ubuntu, one of the Officers of the Watch and chief technical officer (as opposed to the Chief Engineer, who minded the fusion plants and engines). "We can't be sure how the drone will come out the other end. So we can't guarantee it'd come back on its own. Someone will have to guide it back."  
  
"Well, let's hope someone's there to do just that," Sheffield sighed. _Assuming the other side has that thing too._ "See to it, Commander."  
  
"Aye sir. Officer Montague, deploy the drone."  
  
"Aye sir, deploying drone."  
  
The drone in question emerged from its compartment on the ship's hull. Normally such camera drones were employed to examine damage on the hull or a nearby ship. Now, however, its small electric ion drive drove the unmanned device, a flat cylinder about two meters long, toward the blue field. All cameras remained fixed on the drone while it flew on toward the field. Sheffield swallowed, wondering what would happen, if the drone would even make it through, or if the entire thing would prove a cruel illusion. _Will I get home to Darien and the boys?_ He thought of his husband and their adopted children, how much it would hurt if they never came home. If they were all written off for a misjump.  
  
There was a flash. The drone was gone.  
  
Sheffield's eyes were on Lieutenant Lauven. The Tharkad-born woman nodded at him. "It looked like a jump to me, sir. The drone's gone through."  
  
"But no radio communication?"  
  
"None. Control signal is down," said Montague.  
  
"So, all we can do is wait." Sheffield folded his hands in his lap. _Please let someone be on the other side._ _Please…_  
  
  
  
  
The interior of the _Praetorian_ Mobile HQ was quiet. General Bridger and Colonel Kell sat at opposite ends of the holotank table with their groups.  
  
"So, the Great Houses didn't fall here," Bridger said quietly, summing up what they'd just heard and read, mostly for the chance to play it out in his head. "They survived the Succession Wars."  
  
Evan nodded once. "Not easily, but they did."  
  
"And then these Clans came, and they're the descendants of Aleksandr Kerensky's army. Because he didn't die on Terra and he took the SLDF out of the Inner Sphere before the Great Houses could recruit their countrymen into their armies."  
  
"Right. They ended up having their own little version of the Succession Wars, almost destroyed them, and Aleksandr's son Nicholas built the Clans out of the survivors."  
  
Bridger took in another breath and rubbed at his forehead. "I'll be damned. You hear all sorts of stories about Deep Periphery colonies that regress to barbarism, or embrace wildly different cultures, but this is extraordinary."  
  
"Wasn't for us, then or now," Nadia said bitterly. "The Clans have always been trouble."  
  
"And then ComStar broke in half and one half were this religious order that waged war on everyone," Laguna continued for her side. "You make them sound like they were out of something by, I don't remember the name…"  
  
"Azimov," said Colonel Patel. "They sound like a corrupted version of Isaac Azimov's Foundation."  
  
"I'll take your word for that, Colonel Patel. But yeah, the Word of Blake waged the Jihad. Nuked and poisoned a bunch of worlds. Some of the Clans joined us in fighting back, and we eventually took Terra from them and broke 'em."  
  
"And in the aftermath, you formed a new state around Terra, this 'Republic of the Sphere'."  
  
Evan snorted. "More like Devlin Stone did. But he's made something of it at least. At least, he did…"  
  
"And then the HPG network died, and you can't get it back up, and the entire Inner Sphere descended into a new series of wars."  
  
"That's about right, General, yes," Jacob answered. "What's left of the Republic's staying quiet. Word is they've got some kind of technology that forces ships to misjump if they enter the heart of Republic space, so they raid as they want and nobody's heard a thing of ships sent to return the favor."  
  
"Everyone's got their own fighting to worry about," said Evan. "The Commonwealth's reeling from the Clans. The old Free Worlds League is back, but Alaric and his Wolves have been taking their worlds for a while now, and they're still trying to get Andurien back in the fold. And the Dracs and Cappies are giving the Federated Suns hell right now."  
  
"And what about you?" asked Jacob.  
  
"We've had our own complicated history," said Bridger. "Kerensky died on Terra. DeChevalier couldn't keep most of his army from returning to their homes to fight for their houses. He managed to secure Terra and surrounding worlds and oversaw Jerome Blake founding ComStar."  
  
"The 1st Succession War cracked up the Houses, then they tried again anyway and collapsed," Deirdre continued, taking over. "By the mid-29th Century all five Great Houses were either gone or mere shadows of what they were before. People call the fighting afterward a 'third' Succession War, but really it was just a lot of pain and chaos for the Inner Sphere. Over fifteen hundred worlds became independent, out of the survivors, but a lot of 'em ended up pirate havens or petty little empires for local nobles-turned-warlords, and they raided and counter-raided one another for everything from supplies to slave labor."  
  
Bridger continued from there. "The Terrans kept a minimum standard to things, and intervened when it was threatened, but they didn't have the interest or will to pick up any pieces. Instead, the Successor States multiplied during the 30th Century. Some were former regional governments asserting themselves, or entirely new ones forming among the independent worlds. We worked, traded with the Terrans, and got technological recovery going."  
  
As Bridger took a drink from an offered water canteen, Evan observed, "So your Kingdom of Ghastilla and the Royal Federation, you're formed from the systems that made their own Successor States?"  
  
"Yes. And in the early 31st Century, what we call the Renaissance period started. By the 3020s we were even building some of our own Star League-era technology. That ended up just getting everyone's appetites up, though, and starting around 3030, the Successor States began expanding rapidly into independent worlds. Some slower, some faster, but the end result was the same; fighting over worlds intensified, and everyone geared up their militaries for it. So we consider 3030 the start of the Second Age of War."  
  
"A number of the Successor States didn't survive the Second Age." Von Istenburg took over the narrative. "Especially the first decade. By the end of the 3030s the surviving powers were too strong to easily conquer, though, and the following wars were less decisive. Which was when the Terrans got involved."  
  
"They were humiliated in 3039 by the Capellan Empire, and they were too stubborn to become partners with any Successor State. So they relied on their better technology and an initial blitz to try and forcibly subjugate us in 3050. But we didn't break, counter-attacked, and after ten years Terra fell to our forces, putting an end to the Terran Union."  
  
"Some interesting parallels," Nadia Allard murmured. "3050 is when the Clans invaded the Inner Sphere and it was ten years later that we beat them on their own homeworlds, made them foreswear ever invading again."  
  
"'God is a comedian with an audience afraid to laugh'," Bridger quoted with a half-grin. "To return to our own history, everyone was exhausted by the fight with the Terrans, but their worlds were more prizes for us to fight over. We let ComStar keep Terra, under supervision, but the rest of the Union was divided by neighboring states, and nobody liked the shares they won. So more fighting happened through the rest of the century."  
  
"But nothing like a proper Succession War?" asked Jacob.  
  
"Not until 3110. The Capellan Empire attacked Andurien, again, and it spiraled. The entire Inner Sphere ended up fighting one another, harder and nastier than ever before. That one, we called the 4th Succession War."  
  
"Who won?" Nadia's question was the obvious one.  
  
"Nobody, and everybody? Ask ten different people and you'll probably get five or six answers at least," Brigadier Laguna chortled. "We ended the war in 3120 after ComStar called a peace conference on Dieron. Most of the leadership of the Successor States showed, or at least their top advisors, so someone called it the Congress of Dieron, and the results, the Peace of Dieron. And the name stuck."  
  
"As did the peace. Not easily. The Royal Federation tried to retake Sirius after the Congress made us give it back to the Capellans, but that effort went nowhere," Bridger explained, disdain on his expression making it clear it was an old frustration. "There's the occasional raid or squabble over a planet, but nobody is willing to take it further, not anymore. Too many Successor States feel they got something from the Peace of Dieron, so they won't jeopardize it, and they won't let it be jeopardized. So whenever things get a little hot, the 'Concert of the Sphere' kicks in, and cools things down."  
  
"Well, you've clearly kept something of an edge," Evan said. "Maybe more than we did after the Jihad was settled."  
  
Bridger chuckled. "It's why we keep up the exercises, every year. It's what we were jumping to Timkovichi for this year, our first practices with the Flavian Principate and their allies in nearly four years. Lord knows how they're taking our absence."  
  
It was impossible for the others to miss the tone in his voice. It was an awkward moment indeed. "We'll be the best hosts we can manage, General, that I promise," Evan assured him. "After what you've done for us… well, it's the least we can do."  
  
"We'll have to see how the Navy's test goes, I suppose." Those words were spoken with the tone of a man wondering if he was going to get to see his family again. "Until then, any new developments on the stragglers?"  
  
"They've spread out, but with your air power corralling them won't be too hard. The worst news is here." WIth some keystrokes, Jacob brought up a holographic map of a hilly, mountainous region along a river. The image shifted to show a series of passages underneath the hills and crags. "The Jansen Caves. They're a local tourist site, mostly, although back in the day the SLDF used it for survive-and-evade exercises. I'm guessing the Horses know that, since some of their surviving ProtoMechs are taking refuge in them. The caves are big enough for the Protos, but not for an ordinary 'Mech or even a vehicle. We'll need infantry to clear them out, and they'll take a lot of people with them."  
  
"These 'ProtoMechs', they're the ones my soldiers reported fighting?" asked von Istenburg. "The oversized battle armor?"  
  
"That's one way to describe 'em. Things are basically the next step up from battle armor, not quite to 'Mech weight." Evan tapped a key to bring up battlerom footage of the fighting. The others witnessed the small machines in holographic form, firing light anti-armor and anti-infantry weaponry in a battle with the Kell Hounds. "Damn Horses, they're playin' it smart. We press them too hard, they'll just fall back into the caves. Could be months before we clear them out."  
  
"Then I should have a word with Colonel Makepeace," said Brigadier Laguna. At their interested looks, she said, "Like all Striker Armored Infantry Regiments, the 8th's includes an attached company of Spectres."  
  
"Spectres?"  
  
"Infantry special forces, highly trained, using sophisticated lightweight battle armor," Bridger said. "They've got a visual camo system that lets them blend into environments, stealth armor, and ECM. They're not as effective against armored units in a straight up fight, but if the Spectres do their job, they won't have one."  
  
"Well, General Bridger, if you're offerin', I'm not sayin' no," Evan remarked.  
  
"Consider the offer made and accepted then," Bridger replied. "Brigadier Laguna will make the call now."


	4. Corraling the Horses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last stragglers of the Hell's Horses remain to be dealt with, while there is an unexpected complication for General Bridger and Colonel Kell.

**Jansen Cave Network  
Timkovichi, Coventry Province  
Lyran Commonwealth  
13 August 3142**  
  
  
The darkness deep in the caves worked to the advantage of the 8th Striker Armored Regiment's Special Operations Team. The twenty-four men and women, under the command of Captain Gabriel Tosh, moved along quietly with the aid of the camo system in their light _Spectre_ battle armor. Each had a sophisticated series of cameras and sensors that detected their surroundings and directed the surface of the armor to reflect the surfaces "behind" each, effectively making each suit invisible to the naked eye. With heat baffles to thwart IR scanners and passive electronic baffles to prevent detection of their emissions, as well as the other functions of their suits' stealth armor, they were well-suited to their current task. The passive sensors, using ultra-high frequency sonic waves, allowed them to see through the dark without light or emissions that sensors might pick up.  
  
Said darkness relented only slightly as they came upon the camp. Captain Tosh made a hand motion to his troops. Lieutenant Augusta Novan promptly dropped and planted her Longshot AP Gauss Rifle on the ground. Specialized targeting sensors allowed her to employ the rifle as a sniper rifle. Sergeant Stone slipped into place beside her, Assault Gauss Rifle at the ready should he need to protect Novan.  
  
The other squads under his command likewise saw their snipers drop into position. Delta Squad, in accordance with their orders, melted back into the darkness to fulfill their mission, while Baker Squad joined Tosh's Alphas in moving further. They came upon the enemy sentries first, grim-faced men in bedraggled uniforms with IR and night vision headpieces over their eyes. Tosh made the signal "Avoid", and nearly a dozen troopers followed him past the sentries, trusting in their camo systems and heat baffles to avoid detection. Neither sentry showed sign of noticing them. Given the way they stood, they were exhausted, and demoralized, and understandably so. Their victory was taken by the unexpected, and now they had no expectations but to fight and die in the caves.  
  
Past the sentries the cave opened up further, a grotto wiith a small lake fed by the underground springs that helped form the Jansen Caves over the eons. More of the red-uniformed men and women with the fiery horse head patches milled about. A few were at campfires preparing food while others were working on what looked like miniature BattleMechs, or something between a 'Mech and a battle armor suit. They were bigger, though, that was sure, and would be murder on the Spectres if they got into a fight.  
  
Tosh's squads fanned out into fire teams, each moving slowly toward one of the dormant machines. At a horse-headed one, Tosh slipped an explosive charge into the knee actuator of the machine while another of his squad, Pierce, put one on the weapon barrel of the machine. At the passing of a Horseman, they slipped behind one of the legs - even with the camo tech there was no point in risking discovery - and took the moment to retrieve more charges from their mission equipment pods.  
  
That things seemed to be going so well was always a warning sign to special operators to be wary; it seemed to make it all the more likely that things would not be going well shortly, and indeed, may even go FUBAR. Tosh and Pierce were fixing their charges to another of the ProtoMechs, a bull-headed one, when the alarm rose.  
  
Immediately the Horsemen went into action. Battle-armored infantry fanned out from their sentry points, weapons readied, and pilots scrambled for their machines. At first the thought that an external attack had been ordered after all came to Tosh, but after a flash of laser light and a scream over their narrow-beam comm system, he knew it was not that. "Execute discovery plan, now," he ordered, his Anglo-Antillan accent straight from Caledonia's New Antillan archipelago.  
  
At that order the snipers opened up. The heads and torsos of Horse pilots exploded, and from the direction the infiltrators came in, the rumbling sound of explosions filled the air. " _Stravags!_ " a voice cried. "No panicking! Get to your machines and—" The offender's voice cut off suddenly, undoubtedly from a sniper round.  
  
" _Delta Squad here. Cavern is sealed, boss. Rodriguez almost didn't make it out, but we've got them trapped._ "  
  
"Good. Move up with us an' pick off stragglers."  
  
Not only did he and his squad start shooting, they turned their suits' ECM on, to further decrease the risk of being hit. Between that and their stealth, there was very little for any of the enemy to find and shoot, electronically speaking. As a final gesture, they triggered their planted charges, crippling or disarming several of the ProtoMechs.  
  
But they hadn't gotten them all, and those that came active were soon sweeping the grotto with their weapons. All sorts of fire flared out at the slightest movement. While their _Spectre_ armor had some protection, the heavier lasers or multiple missile impacts could defeat their protection, and Tosh listened to the cries for help from his wounded and dying troopers.  
  
Initially all he could do was continue his bloody work, using his Assault APGR to thin out enemy ranks as the last ProtoMechs and battle armors were manned, but as targets reduced to few and then none, his attention turned to his soldiers. He noted one visible set of _Spectre_ armor that was quite neatly, and gruesomely, bisected across the upper waist. He knelt down below the upper half and opened a faceplate. Inside, Corporal Karl Linz stared at him with glassy, tear-filled eyes. "Moved too quick," he mumbled. "They got me. I'm… I'm dying."  
  
"Hold on," he urged the man. "The medics are comin'."  
  
"Not fast enough. Not fast enough…"  
  
And indeed, they weren't.  
  
  
  
  
The disorganized Horses quickly understood two things: they were under attack, and that someone was blocking their retreat.  
  
That didn't stop them from moving further into the caves, at least, not until the Elementals discovered the passages blocked by broken stone and rock from still-billowing clouds of light dust. But with retreat not just being blocked but completely blocked, they had only one choice left to them, and their surviving commander quickly took it, and unknowingly ensured no other losses to the infiltration team.  
  
To a man, the Horses rushed the entrance of the cave, determined to bleed the enemy they were certain was waiting for them of every liter of blood they could extract.  
  
What they found was nothing. There were no enemy positions at the cave entrance. No 'Mechs, no tanks, no infantry, nothing to shoot.  
  
Nothing, at least, until the ProtoMechs' sensors picked up the distant VTOLs.  
  
By then the Ghastillan-made _Luftkanone_ VTOLs already had their bearings. In the colors of the 4th Ghastillan Grenadiers and the 8th Strikers, two sets of the VTOLs opened up with the Thumper cannons built into their frames. A barrage of high explosive shells started going off in the midst of the Horse formation, tearing apart armored infantry and the more damaged ProtoMechs immediately.  
  
The choices for the Horse units were simple: keep going and face continued artillery assault, and who knew what else, retreat into a trap, or the unthinkable choice, surrender.  
  
The second, at least, had the appeal of buying them time to get their bearings. But it might also rob them of their remaining morale and make surrender sound more appealing. And these were the heart of the "Mongol" faction of the Horses, those who saw Falcon Khan Hazen's way as the best way for their Clan. They would not submit.  
  
So they pressed on, looking to get into combat range with the enemy air artillery. It was a hopeless plan, as the tilt-rotor craft need only pull backward to keep the range, and that they easily did. Their fire spread out, losing some of its lethality, but the Horses' losses were already so severe that they couldn't afford what casualties they were still taking.  
  
That was when the Long Tom Cannons of the 4th Grenadiers' Command DropShips opened up as well.  
  
The attack became a slaughter, and the last survivors of the 666th Mechanized Cluster never fired another shot before their extirpation.  
  
  
  
  
The events, as bloody as they were, played for the assembled commanders in sterile holographic markings in the Kell Hound command vehicle. "That's it, then," Bridger said, nodding to Evan. "Colonel Kell, it is my pleasure to inform you that this world is secure from enemies. Our duty is done."  
  
"Bloody hell, General," Evan replied, in the voice of a man who'd not quite expected to live out the day, especially upon seeing that Falcon cruiser start descending, “When your boys do a job, they damn well do it thoroughly.” Outside the night sky was visible, although none of them had yet to leave.  
  
That's not to say they hadn't noticed the same thing virtually everyone had, of the bright blue blob openly visible in their night sky.  
  
"Any word from your fleet?" Nadia Allard asked.  
  
"They sent a remote drone through a while back, but it could be a while before there's a response. If there can be one."  
  
"I hope there’s gonna be," Evan said. "Wouldn't lie, we could use your help - Falcons and Horses caught us with our shorts down - but even if that isn’t an option, you and yours deserve to be able to get home. God willing, you will; I know how I’d feel being cut off from Arc-Royal for good, and no-one deserves that."  
  
"Thought's appreciated, and welcome," Bridger replied. "As for the prisoners, we'll start turning them over to you immediately."  
  
"Although there is one you may be wary of receiving," Brigadier Laguna said. "My medics extracted the living pilot of a winged enemy assault 'Mech, one marked with a black rose. Given what they're hearing from your people…"  
  
" _Christ_." Evan looked like he’d been punched in the gut. “You mean you’ve got Hazen _alive_?”  
  
"The medics stabilized her, yes." Laguna noted their expressions, and given what they'd learned, she didn't begrudge them the unspoken attitude each had: "You should have let the bitch die". "SOP, same as you I'm sure."  
  
That was answered by a nod.  
  
"She's not ours to judge," Bridger said quietly. "So we'll turn her over to you whenever you're ready." He said that knowing there was a good chance someone on the other side would murder Khan Hazen in her sickbed.  
  
“I’d prefer it if you didn’t,” Evan shook his head. “Ordinarily, I could count on my people not to do anything … _untoward_ ,” he settled on, “But after everything she’s done, the Armoured Guard’d shoot her the instant they got hold of her; and even in my Hounds’ hands I can’t guarantee someone wouldn’t slip her enough morphine to make a ghost bear see elephants. Hell, I’m tempted to do it myself. As it is,” the big man leaned against the map table, “there’s people I need to talk to to figure out what we’re gonna do with her - the Republic’s got as good a claim on her as we do for a start, even if we can’t talk to them through the Fortress - and this is way over my paygrade.”  
  
"We'll keep her in our custody if that's what you'd prefer," Bridger offered. "I figure Admiral Marik will even agree to bring her up to the _Arcadia_."  
  
"Although how fast you can talk to your superiors is another matter," General Istenburg noted. "If the HPGs are down, and if you don't have black boxes, it could be months before we hear from them."  
  
Evan nodded. "Maybe two in every ten HPGs still work, but there’s a whole lot of breaks in the chain, and most of the ones that still work aren’t working the way they _should_. There used to be a Black Box chain out here, I remember that from my history lessons - Archon Adam set it up in the JIhad, but with the peace it looks like the local command let it lapse. One more thing we let slip,” his voice turned bitter. “Sometimes I think us and the Davions were the only ones outside the Republic who bought into Stone’s ideal. Means it’s down to the Pony Express for passing messages; I’ve sent one of our ships to Arc-Royal to let them know we survived, and they'll be carrying word of your arrival. I'll have to send another to give Martin and Khan Fetladral the update about Hazen; hopefully it’ll make it in time to pass the word on to Lady Trillian. If not, just gotta hope she’s still close enough we can find her."  
  
"The Archon?"  
  
"Not quite; more of a roving troubleshooter for the Archon at the moment. These days, she’s pretty close to next in line, though, and I’d prefer her over the other choice; Vedet Brewer.” Evan practically spat the name. “The Duke of Hesperus; he’s a proven combat commander, and he’s made some smart calls in the past - sending the Eighth Lyran Guards and _Yggdrasil_ to back up the Stormhammers on Skye in ‘35 for a start - but I wouldn’t trust the man to sell me a used groundcar, or watch my back in a fight. He’s an ambitious, backstabbing son of a Blakist with the loyalty of a scorpion. I’m pretty sure it was him who advised Archon Melissa to try backstabbing the Crusader Wolves, and that’s cost the Commonwealth; good people, and most of what we won in HAMMERFALL. He’s been hanging around on Tharkad a lot lately; God knows what he might’ve done by now, without me or Roderick around to keep an eye on him.”  
  
"These Wolves, are they just as murderous as these Falcons and Horses?" Patel asked wearily.  
  
"No, have to say they're not. They play by the rules more. But they're damned aggressive; it’s one reason Melissa figured she could use them against the former League states. That didn’t really work; it just united them; not that since Thaddeus Marik bought it they’ve been able to stop Seth Ward carving himself an empire out of the new League and parts of our space.” Evan frowned. “Which I guess would include your core territories, if you're set up down that way."  
  
"That it would," Bridger answered. He checked his wrist watch. "Well, I'd better see to briefing Admiral Marik, now that the fighting's over. I'm keeping a command post in Cirenholm until we find out more about what's going to happen, I'll get a liaison officer over to you tonight."  
  
"They'll be welcome, General. We'll keep in touch."  
  
  
  
  
For Private Delanie Baker of the 8th Striker Armored Infantry Regiment's 3rd Battalion, the day's hard fight was giving way to the monotony of a cleanup. The Concordian woman, native to the New Appalachian Continent, joined her platoon in securing the damaged and captured DropShiips that ferried the "Falcon" troops planetside. The crews didn't surrender so much as get themselves killed resisting attack, and the ship itself may never fly again given how much damage the aerojocks had inflicted on it. Securing it was the last task to a very unexpectedly long day.  
  
The aptly-named _Striker_ battle armor gave her the strength to tear open most of the damaged bulkheads that barred their way, and in one case they were able to jump to an upper deck to get around an obstruction. They found the occasional body, blown apart by explosions or fried by penetrating laser or PPC fire, and the feeling of the ship as a charnel house left Delanie with an uneasy feeling while advancing through.  
  
" _Hey Del_." Her partner, Private Jinosuke Tanaga of New Kyoto, spoke English with only a faint New Kyoto accent. " _Got that blip too?_ "  
  
She almost asked what he meant until she noted the life sign showing on her battle armor's sensor systems. There was someone alive on this tub. "Yeah. We got a live one. Let's be careful."  
  
" _Right. Heard this crew went down hard. Fanatics._ "  
  
They followed the source past a blown bulkhead to the ship's living quarters. They found what looked to be a larger set of quarters, officers' quartering, where the life sign was strongest.  
  
Then the actual life sign came for them. Much to Delanie's surprise, a young woman, probably only in her teens, lunged from a half-opened hatch door with terror and anger in equal parts on her face. She took a knife as if to plunge it into Delanie's chest, but the blade instead broke against the _Striker_ 's armored skin. The jumpsuited child shrieked at her and struck as if to claw her. Delanie grabbed the girl's wrist as softly as she could with the suit, holding the limb as if she were trying to grasp a chicken egg. This let her avoid smashing bones, but the girl still shrieked and slumped in her grasp before trying to pull out.  
  
Jinosuke's external lights came on and allowed Delanie a closer look at her attacker. The girl had to be no more than seventeen, she was certain, and possibly younger. Her clothing was a nondescript jumpsuit of sorts, which covered her from neck to heel. She didn't look starved, at least from Delanie's perspective.  
  
Her eyes were drawn to the limb she was gripping. The girl's free hand was frantically trying to force Delanie's manipulator off. Around the wrist was a triple braided cord of two green and one white band, with a green falcon insignia on it.  
  
"Jeez Louise, calm down girl!" Delanie called out, using the external speakers and speaking in her usual soft drawl. "Christ, I don't want to hurt you!"  
  
The girl screamed again, but used no words.  
  
Delanie keyed her squad's tac-comm. "Loo, Sarge, we found someone. Looks too young to be crew, but she's mighty pissed at something. Get someone up here that's out of a suit before she makes me break her arm or somethin'!"  
  
  
  
  
Now in the customary red duty uniform of an AFRF officer, Evangeline stepped into the Battalion Command office on the _Charles Sinclair_. Her hand came up in a salute that was more instinct than intentional gesture. Major Alejandro Perez was a fellow _Launumeño_ , with light brown skin and hair, a fellow commoner although without family in the nobility like Evangeline had (her grandfather had been a younger son of the Count of Vallejo). Technically Perez was the battalion XO, but Lt. Colonel Opel was back on Arc-Royal after being diagnosed with early-onset cancer, and the Colonelcy Board had yet to approve Perez's promotion.  
  
"Lieutenant, at ease," he said. "I just wanted to check base with you after earlier."  
  
"I…" She swallowed. "Sorry, sir, it won't happen again."  
  
"What, shooting a dead 'Mech to scrap?" Perez showed her a warm smile. "Lieutenant, you're not the first, and frankly that pilot was insanely capable. I sympathize with wanting to make sure she was down."  
  
"She was the enemy leader, I hear."  
  
"She was," Perez noted. "You got co-kill credit with the Navy flyboys and that _Awesome_ pilot."  
  
"Leutnant Palisser. I met her earlier today. Good MechWarrior. A bit better put together than I was at the time." She drew in a breath to try and control herself, mostly so she wouldn't start crying again. "Still am."  
  
Perez nodded and, with a voice full of sympathy, said, "It's hard, yeah. Seeing comrades die."  
  
"Not just… not just die." Evangeline licked her lips. "Captain Kincaid saved my life. She… she was incredible too. And that Khan Hazen just… killed her. Like she could just magically focus her weapon on any target she pleased. I've never seen anything like it."  
  
"I have to admit I haven't either, Lieutenant. Sometimes all we can do is thank God we got to live and move on." Perez gestured to a chair, the kind you might find in a waiting room in some commercial business. She took the seat gratefully. "You did good, Lieutenant. This was your first firefight, and you didn't freeze up, you didn't get distracted. You showed you could do this."  
  
"Yeah. I… I just…"  
  
"...you're not sure you can again?" he asked, after she couldn't say more. "Yeah, I understand that. A lot of young MechWarriors go through that after their first firefight. They all end up dealing with it. No different with you."  
  
She recognized he was trying to not only reassure her, but ready her for continued service. Right now all she wanted to do was go home and imagine her entire life of the last five years was a bad dream. To go back to that day she was told she qualified for courses at an AFRF academy and say "No thank you," and instead dedicate herself to a civilian occupation.  
  
Perez stood. "Follow me, Lieutenant."  
  
She'd not expected that, but she did as ordered. Perez led her up into one off the upper decks and to the _Sinclair_ 's infirmary. They went past scrub-clad personnel to the patient ward, where some of the 8th Striker's jump infantry were now stationed, sans jump packs, to watch over enemy troops still being cared for. "Here she is."  
  
Khan Hazen was smaller than Evangeline would have imagined. The murderous leader was a slip of a woman, not at all imposing in size, clad in a patient's gown. Unlike some of the others present, she wasn't cuffed to her bed… because there was no point. None of her limbs was intact, save the stub of one thigh visible under the covering sheet. Her face was a mass of cuts covered in bandages, with a breathing tube connected to the mask over her mouth and nose and her right eye likewise covered in bandages. Metal surface was visible underneath the edge of some of those bandages, implying some cybernetic components already present. Soft trilling equipment confirmed brain and heart activity, but Captain Kincaid and Lieutenant von Krager's killer remained unmoving in the bed.  
  
"Feel better?" Perez asked.  
  
"I… suppose so," she said. It was reassuring to see the state of this vicious woman, given everything Leutnant Palisser said about her. _Looks like her cockpit got smashed in and cut her to pieces. She's probably lucky to be alive. Or God's being particularly thorough in the punishment._  
  
"It's always going to be with you. Won't lie about that. But it can be lived with. And II think you've got some of the best potential I've seen in a while. So go sleep on it. You'll start feeling better tomorrow."  
  
And with that, he left, and she followed.  
  
  
  
  
A series of strong electronic tones stirred Captain Sheffield from his sleep. Bleary-eyed and still rather tired, he didn't bother removing the straps that held his covers in place, a precaution against the grav-deck stopping and leaving him in zero-G. His hand slapped away at the nightstand bolted beside his bed, one of the luxuries of his rank present in the captain's quarters of the _Emancipator_. "Yes?"  
  
" _Captain._ " Through his groggy mind he registered the voice as Commander Rachel Tishone, his XO, a native of the continent of Mull on Arcadia and its East African-founded communities. " _Sir, I thought you should know… the drone's come back through._ "  
  
All thought of sleep fled from Sheffield's mind.


	5. Fluff - Arcadia Planetary Profile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, this is a bit of fluff I wrote for my chosen capital during the GSRPG mentioned in my main note. I'd not found a lot of detail on the planet (its FedSuns counterpart is rather more fluffed out since it was the high water mark of the Draconis Combine invasion in the early 1st Succession War) so, taking its proximity to the old Federation of Skye's border into account, I came up with my own data on it. For the most part it seems accurate, save that since then I've learned the writers stated the planet's initial colony died out during the Age of War and was only brought back during the Star League era (as a response to a question about various worlds not being on certain maps set in certain IS historical periods). My write-up is thus non-canon compliant. But I like to think it's rather good anyway. :-P

** Arcadia **

Single star system  
Spectral type: G4V  
System Position: 3rd  
Moons: 1, Artemis  
Surface Gravity: 1.02 g  
Atmospheric pressure: Standard (breathable)  
Equatorial temperature: 35 degree Celsius (Temperate)  
Surface water: 76%  
Highest native life: Mammals, avians, reptiles, aquatic  
Founding: 2230

Ruler: High King Nathaniel Proctor, Duke of Arcadia  
Capital: Roslyn (Planetary), Laughlin Capital District (Federation)  
Population: 4.08 Billion (3030 Census), 6.18 Billion (3140 Census)  
Socio-Industrial Levels: A-A-B-B-A (as of 3140)

First explored by Henry Sinclair of Skye in 2229, the planet's raw appeal as a garden world and breadbasket prompted its naming after the classic image of unspoiled Greek wilderness. Arcadia was initially a trading outpost of Skye. The initial settlers were of Gaelic extraction - Scots and Irish - but quickly joined by North Americans primarily from New England and Nova Scotia and a concentration of Greek settlers. The main continent, named Islay, enjoys several fertile river valleys and concentrations of fisheries off all coasts save the Arctic coast. Islay stretches from the Arctic to twenty degrees south of the equator, a continent of a land mass on par with Eurasia. Across a two hundred kilometer strait to the southwest is the primary continent of the Southern Hemisphere, Munster (originally South Uist), a continent equal to both Americas in proportion but entirely below the equator save for an equatorial peninsula formed by the northern extension of the continent's primary mountain range, the highest on Arcadia. A second continent named Mull, about one and a half times the size of Australia, is to the east of Munster, while the secondary continent of the Northern Hemisphere, Constantine (originally North Uist), is to the north and off the western coast of Islay. The largest sea, the Arcadian Ocean, is to the west of Constantine, north of Mull, and east of Islay, and is home to a number of volcanic islands, although it does not have the "ring of fire" that the Pacific basin has on Terra.

In terms of population, Islay is the most populated. The bulk of the population is on the east coast, where the planetary capital of Roslyn and the major commercial and cultural city Sannazaro are the main metropoles. To the northeast of Sannazaro, the Plymouth Peninsula juts out into the Arcadian Ocean and is a colder temperate region that's home to North American-descended settlers with cities named for New England cities. In the heart of the continent rich farmlands fed by several river systems give the planet the bulk of its wheat, barley, oats, and other grain production, including grains native to Arcadia. The Pan River, the longest river on the planet, is central to several of these systems, with the largest network of tributaries, and the city of Mantinea to serve as the center for the agricultural areas. West of Mantinea the population of Anglo-Scot Arcadians diminishes compared to the Greeks. Constantine, along with the districts on Islay's western coast, are the homes of Arcadia's Greek population and their largest city, Arcas, while Munster has the largest Irish-Arcadian population. Mull, due to the weather patterns and mountain layout, is primarily arid and semi-arid high plateaus with some lush farmland on the eastern and northern coastline. The interior of Mull is inhospitable desert, the worst on the planet, but home to some of the best concentrations of strategic minerals and resources Arcadia has, retaining their richness even after nearly seven centuries of extraction. The interior population is almost entirely transient to provide for the mines, although settlers from Ethiopia, Somalia, and similar lands of East Africa have made several small towns and cities to support their agrarian lifestyle. The Afro-Arcadians provide a significant share of the military volunteers from Arcadia by proportion of population. They and a small population of Melanesians and Anglo-Arcadians provide the majority population for the various Arcadian Ocean island chains. The most unique of these are the Iaukean Islands, an archipelago of tropical and subtropical islands equal in biodiversity and size to the Indonesian and Philippine archipelagos on Earth. They were initially settled by American Pacific Islanders and Hawai'ians but since joined by Balinese and Papuan peoples. Over the centuries a unique culture has formed among the island dwellers, who speak both English and a particular patois of English, Hawai'ian, Samoan, various Papuan languages, and Balinese, making Iaukeans one of the most unique ethno-linguistic ccmmunities in the entire Inner Sphere.

Arcadia remained a world of the Federation of Skye until the formation of the Lyran Commonwealth. Over the centuries it remained a border system with the Free Worlds League, becoming a battleground for a time during the Age of War. Under the Star League the system flourished, becoming a designated SLDF supply world with an SLDF-subsidized shipyard built in orbit of Artemis to take advantage of the moon's rich veins of minerals, including germanium. Star League technology enabled the automation of mines in the Mull interior, allowing the mineral wealth of the planet to be extracted without subjecting Human beings to the temperature extremes there, where in the daytime temperatures could spike into the lower fifties (Celsius) while at night they plunged to zero and below.

At the fall of the Star League House Marik's troops made repeated raids, damaging the Artemis Yards and on-planet military facilities, although Arcadia was spared the use of nuclear weapons that ravaged other worlds. Nevertheless, the planet's economy suffered severely in the coming decades, as the First Succession War quickly gave way to the continued horror of the Second. Skye's separation from the Lyran Commonwealth in 2849 began a period of chaos that came to Arcadia with the collapse of House Steiner's authority. The ruling family of the time, the Duncans, had increasing difficulty keeping order as pirates multiplied in the absence of organized military authority. Mercenaries, mostly the broken remnants of LCAF and FWLM units gone rogue, were hired to supplement the Duncans' house forces.

This ultimately proved disastrous. The mercenaries known as Lange's Lashers, under their commander Norman Johns, grew discontent with working for the Duncans. Conspiring with mercenary units across the planet, Johns suddenly and with great violence sacked Roslyn and the Ducal Palace, killing the Duncan family to the last child. He proclaimed himself ruler and immediately started warring with the other nobles of the planet and mercenaries who were jealous of his rise, each side raiding one another for access to resources. When this raiding led to the destruction of the Star League-era mines in Mull and numerous other assets, the planet's economy collapsed.

This began what Arcadians would later lament as "The Age of Chains". As the technology for resource extraction declined, raw manpower became necessary to see to the farms and mines. Johns and his peers among the mercenary warlords and the nobility began conscription of labor in their holdings. This conscription grew in scope and in duration, with allies often selling the labor of their talented workers to one another. It didn't take long for this to outright escalate to chattel slavery. Raids were soon targeting the planetary population as much as their food and minerals, especially for those warlords who controlled mines in Mull that now had to be operated by manpower, not machines.

The Age of Chains defined two generations, considered as roughly beginning around 2870 with Johns' "Labor Decree". By 2890 ownership of another human being was a mark of privilege among the warlords and their officers, whether they came by military compulsion or from desperate Arcadians selling themselves to provide for their families. History would know these warlords as the "Slaver Lords", a title they obviously never adopted among themselves. Only on Constantine and the Greek-majority districts of Islay did this system never take hold, and in Mull and the Iaukean Islands the local nobility and population sustained a decades-long guerrilla war against the Slaver Lords' forces.

By this time, Norman Johns was dead, killed in a 'Mech duel by an ambitious young officer in Lange's Lashers, Carl Tabot. A MechWarrior of consummate skill and the owner and pilot of an SLDF ZEU-5T _Zeus_ Assault BattleMech, Tabot seized control of Johns' holdings, using assassination and murder to eliminate rivals in the Lashers while expanding his control to include the Plymouth Peninsula as well as the eastern districts of Islay. Taking the title of "the Prince of Sannazaro" and making the northern metropole his capital, "Prince Carl" was ruthless in expanding the forced labor system and the institutions of slavery, which he saw as the natural conclusion to the feudalism gripping Arcadia and the rest of the Inner Sphere. From 2888 to the 2920s, he expanded his holdings to include all of Mull's interior mines and half of Munster, declaring himself "High Lord of Arcadia" in 2921. He was without reservation a tyrant, and a bloody-handed one. Every year thousands of people, Arcadians and captives from neighboring worlds, perished in the mines of Mull from heatstroke, dehydration, exposure, or from the wounds inflicted by the cruel punishments of Tabot's taskmasters. Towns and cities that resisted the yearly culling of conscription were subjected to the equivalent of a medieval sacking, their populations carted off into slavery.

The bloodshed was about to get worse. In 2921 the nobility of Constantine refused to submit to his demand to recognize his proclaimed sovereignty and provide their citizens as slaves to Tabot's holdings. In retaliation he employed a DropShip-carried force that sacked the continent's second largest city, Levidi, and took the citizenry into slavery, including the Count of Levidi's entire family. This sparked a savage war against the rest of the Greek enclave that tied up the majority of his forces for the next five years. For all their inferiority in resources, including BattleMech and Aerospace weaponry, the Greeks fought with courage and delayed Tabot's advances repeatedly, suffering great cost in human life as they did. By 2926, their Islay holdings had fallen, as had half of Constantine and most of the outlying New Cyclades Islands. The fall of the city of Maui cost them access to the support of the Iaukean nobility, who continued their own bloody struggle as best as they could. Tabot was at the cusp of subduing all of Arcadia.

The turning of the tide came from an unexpected source. In February 2926 a fleet of DropShips arrived in-system and burned in, the largest grouping of incoming forces seen since the collapse of the Lyran Commonwealth. At the head of the armada was an unassuming cargo DropShip called the _Melanie_ , and her master was a daughter of Arcadia's Plymouth Peninsula and, as chance would have it, an escaped household slave of Tabot himself. That woman was Sara Proctor, a traveler and adventuress of some fame to the Inner Sphere. Now wealthy from the proceeds of her adventures and the trading expeditions of the _Melanie_ , she invested most of that wealth in the armada at her back, bearing with them an army of trained MechWarriors and combat troops from across the Inner Sphere, including the bulk of the legendary Warrior Monks of St. Cameron. When challenged by the system traffic controllers, Proctor openly broadcast her intent to destroy the forces of the Slaver Lords, end Tabot's rule, and "restore peace, freedom, and tranquility to our mother world". Enraged at her impertinence (and remembering her as one of his escaped slaves) Tabot ordered a fighter strike, but his three wings of run-down aerospace fighters soon found themselves in mortal combat with her aerospace contingent, led by a wing of the famed Heaven's White Ascenders. Tabot lost the bulk of his air power in a single engagement while the Greek-Arcadians broadcast their willingness to host Proctor's troops.

Instead of merely landing in their territory, however, Proctor's forces struck from orbit, hitting the occupied city of Leuktra on Islay's western coast. The battalion of BattleMechs and attached armor and infantry left by Tabot to inhabit the major city fought a ferocious action, but with the heroism of the Warrior Monks and Proctor's personal advance on the field piloting her _Crusader_ 'Mech, they fell in two days of fighting. Not only did the battle result in the liberation of Leuktra and the annihilation of Tabot's forces there, it first demonstrated to the people of Arcadia that the commander of the Liberation Army was a skilled MechWarrior in her own right.

This was the opening shot of the Liberation War, a two year struggle for control of the planet's vital points between Tabot's forces and Proctor's. Tabot rallied mercs to his side as well and won support from the Duke (or _Amir_ ) of Dar-es-Salaam, who assigned a battalion of his personal 'Mech regiment to Tabot's aid. Proctor, her war chest enlarged by the Greeks and by the admiring Duke of Gienah, Mordecai Shaltiel, maintained her own mercenary forces while purchasing weapons and equipment off the Inner Sphere markets for Arcadian volunteers.

The conflict raged on every continent as Proctor's fleet of ships allowed her to deploy rapidly against Tabot's key assets, while Tabot used lightning raids and retaliatory massacres to cow the populace from openly supporting her. The first great blow for Tabot came in October 2926 with the loss of the McCreary Germanium Mines in Munster, giving the Liberation Army a new source of income and denying it to Tabot. At the start of 2927 Tabot attempted a hammer blow on Arcas itself, looking to crush the center of the Greek-Arcadian lands, but a stout defense by the Greek forces and the newly-arrived Douglas' Highlanders mercenaries not only saved Arcas, it tied down Tabot's forces long enough for Proctor's troops to launch a large-scale offensive on Mull, liberating thousands of suffering slaves from the mines and cutting off Tabot's main source of several valuable raw materials. With his resources cut and his troops in shambles, Tabot was compelled to withdraw past Mantinea on Islay and take all of his garrisons from Munster and Mull. In April he lost his positions in the Iaukeans, losing the city of Maui to a combined force of local guerrillas under Auli'i Keahi, a veteran resistance leader, and the Warrior Monks.

Yet he wasn't beaten, as among other things, he still had the Rayhan Cavalry's battalion of heavy and medium BattleMechs as a reserve. With them he delivered a harsh blow to a feeler attack against his positions that May. When Jonesburgh, one of the cities in Southern Islay, rose up against him, he sent them to crush the city as punishment, while ordering other troops to move to Mantinea and executed the former slaves there. Proctor's main forces saved Jonesburgh and compelled the Dar-es-Salaam troops to withdraw, but that left them unable to aid the former slaves in Mantinea. They would have been slaughtered by the thousands if not for the Warrior Monks of St. Cameron. Two battalions of Monk MechWarriors met four times their number at Mantinea, backed by tanks, airbreathing jet craft, and mechanized infantry, and repelled them repeatedly until, after several hours of intense fighting, the last Monk fell to Tabot's troops. Regardless, their sacrifice saved Mantinea, as Proctor's forces arrived by DropShip to repel the battered Tabot troops before they could commence the slaughter. Their losses proved so significant that in an act of daring, Proctor bypassed their positions in the interior plains and landed a force at Roslyn, the former planetary capital. Her troops swiftly secured the city and surrounding area, giving them not only a foothold in Eastern Islay but forcing a complete withdrawal from Southern and Central Islay by Tabot's forces. He'd taken a potentially crippling blow.

The liberation of Roslyn also brought with it possession of the old Kong Interstellar Defense Works of Roslyn, a Star League-era factory complex contracted to build _Black Knight_ BattleMechs and _Zero_ light aerospace fighters for the SLDF. While the fighter construction machinery was damaged and couldn't be restored at the time, by the end of the year a volunteer engineer from Terra and other experts had the Defense Works producing the _Black Knight_ for the Liberation Army. Proctor was given the first machine off the line, although she still piloted her _Crusader_.

With potential defeat staring him in the face, Tabot decided the quickest way to end the war was to kill his personal nemesis. After gathering his troops, he launched a massive assault on Plymouth Peninsula, declaring that unless Proctor surrendered he would kill every living being and burn down every town. His troops hit with enough force to brush aside Nathaniel Proctor's Light Horse of New Salem regiment, although the skirmishers did take the lives of several Tabot officers in the fighting, and readied to enact the decree.

Proctor took the field with the bulk of her army. In the Battle of Worcester, the Liberation forces and Prince Tabot's armies met in a savage brawl that left the city mostly destroyed and inflicted severe losses on both sides. While Tabot's troops were forced to retreat ultimately, Tabot nevertheless nearly managed his victory. During the battle, his command unit sent repeated attacks on Proctor's personal unit, weakening her command company, and allowing Tabot and his SLDF-era _Zeus_ to ruin her weakened BattleMech. Only by the self-sacrifice of her companion (and lover) William Corey and the efforts of the bodyguard company of the Baron of Kalios, Ioulianos (Julian) Kalides, saved her life after her _Crusader_ was left utterly destroyed.

Yet she did survive her injuries, and the victory cut yet further into the lands held by the most powerful, and now last, of the "Slaver Lords". Tabot was reduced to Poussin and Sannazaro along the eastern coast. But these two metropoles still had significant industry, including a factory complex for building BattleMechs, and the Murray Mountain Range served to limit the points of advance. With a defense in depth and heavy employment of anti-air, Tabot could buy time, and indeed tried to, seeking more aid from the ruler of Dar-es-Salaam and the loyalty of pirates and mercenaries desperate for plunder. If given time, he could rebuild his forces and yet drive back Proctor's army.

As it was, it took Proctor two months to recover from her wounds at Worcester, but after she did, she took the field again and, with allied commanders, hatched an offensive plan. In March, her troops struck at and seized several locations within Tabot's defensive perimeter, laying siege to his lines from multiple directions with her superior DropShip assets.

Yet Tabot felt confident. Just as his resources were waning, the sheer number of troops necessary to garrison the planet were exhausting Proctor's. He saw the attack as a desperation bid to overwhelm him by forces too spread out to do so effectively, and upon hearing Proctor's unit was within his defensive perimeter, set out with his own personal unit to finish what he started at Worcester. He considered himself the superior MechWarrior and strategist: it was time to kill his would-be usurper and take back the world that was his by right of his martial power and skill.

Unfortunately for him, Proctor anticipated his reaction. As soon as he came down on her troops and the remaining Warrior Monks, they fell back on the defensive to draw him in. Tabot, determined to kill her - by then unhinged by the very mention of her, witnesses claimed - drove on… and right into her trap. Reserves hidden from his troops came in and trapped his unit, subjecting it to deadly fire from all sides. In the fighting Proctor challenged him again, this time in her new _Black Knight_. Though her machine gave up five tons on his, it was still another SLDF machine, and the two were close enough that talent told. And hers, in the end, proved the superior talent. At the town of Parnon, west-southwest of Sannazaro, the self-proclaimed "High Lord of Arcadia", Carl Tabot, was slain by his own former slave. The Age of Chains was over.

The death of Tabot was the effective end of the war. While his son Matthew and his most loyal officers fled the planet with the aid of the Dar-es-Salaam troops rather than surrender, many of his troops preferred a hope of amnesty instead of guaranteed death with further resistance. Across the planet celebrations broke out at the success and the end of the Age of Chains. Sara Proctor, now widely known as "The Liberator", was the most beloved woman on the planet.

With the full support of her allied nobility, as well as the leaders of Jonesburgh and other cities and towns saved by Proctor, Sara was declared the Duchess of Arcadia by acclamation in the first Arcadian Council of Nobles meeting in decades, overcoming resistance from traditionalists in the Islay and Munster nobility. To assuage the protocol officers and the sentiments of those traditionalists, the rightful Count of Plymouth, a returned exile named Randolph Carter, named her the Baroness of New Salem first. In a political move to consolidate support among the nobility, she accepted the Baron of Kalios as her husband. Their first son, named for her slain companion William, was born in 2931, and they would have two more children - Jacob and Zoe - to round out the ruling family.

Duchess Sara looked to the rebuilding of Arcadia, cutting military spending as far as she could while still retaining two veteran regiments, the Arcadian Guards and Arcadian Rangers, to see to pirate attacks and planetary defense. Her first decade was a time of recovery and rebuilding the destroyed cities, finding homes for war refugees, and other necessary works to revitalize the planet, and while it led to the exhaustion of the planet's wealth, the Arcadian economy was on the rebound by the late 2930s. An indebted world, Arcadia's nascent industrial sector soon exported to less industrialized worlds while her plentiful agricultural bounty fed worlds as far as Bolan, providing C-bills for her treasury to repay reconstruction loans before they broke the planet's credit. Investment ensured the shipyards at Artemis were brought back online enough to resume civilian DropShip and JumpShip production, funneling more C-Bills into Arcadia's recovery coffers. By 2956, Arcadia was the greatest economic power among the independent worlds between Bolan and Hesperus, and her cities grew with immigrants fleeing the chaos and strife of the rest of the Inner Sphere.

This economic and growing military power attracted attention, and interest. Diplomatic talks with the nearby worlds began and in that same year, soon after her 66th birthday, Duchess Sara was named ruler of the newly formed Arcadian Free March, taking the title of March-Princess.

Much of the history of the following decades is the history of the Free March and the succeeding Royal Federation, not simply Arcadia itself. Nevertheless Arcadia has flourished as the capital of the realm. It barely had a population of one and a quarter billion by the end of the Age of Chains, but a post-war baby boom and immigration brought it past three billion by the end of the Liberator's life in 2986. The population boom has waned since, with the Arcadian population ticking in at just over four billion at the 3030 census and peaking at six billion by 3140. To the rest of the Inner Sphere, Arcadia is a vibrant planet with a prominent and advancing industrial sector with plentiful resources (due to the later reactivation of the Star League-era mines using captured Terran technology), and an agricultural bounty that has not failed.

A sense of destiny pervades the myriad peoples of Arcadia, be they ranchers in the semi-arid steppe of Mull or the humble townships and farmers of Plymouth. The Age of Chains and the Liberation have shaped Arcadian society, giving them a firm commitment to the principles of liberty they consider a God-given right and a refusal to bow to the whims of tyrants ever again. The motto of their rulers is the motto etched in the hearts of every Arcadian: _Audemus Jura Nostra Defendere._ "We Dare Defend Our Rights". The planetary flag's re-design best reflects their view of their experiences of the 29th and early 30th Centuries: a fiery phoenix with wings spread set against a forested, snow-capped mountain.

**3140 Update:** The century since the reformation of the Free March into the Royal Federation has cemented Arcadia's place in the first rank of worlds. The planet is now the main capital of the Royal Federation, governing one of the largest Successor States in the Inner Sphere, including the capitals of both Great Houses that once fought over the planet when it was just another border world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll leave it to readers to guess the reference used for the mercenaries and warlords responsible for the "Age of Chains", *snicker*.


	6. Fluff - House Proctor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some more fluff, this time about the ruling house of the Arcadian Royal Federation. The GSRPG I was in, I'll note, took place 3030-3038, with my joining at the start of the 3033 year in-game. We let it come to an end at the end of '38, so everything afterward reflects my projecting events based on what players said about their factions, possible future plans, and an attempt to be fair to everyone else (although I admit that I did trash one neighboring state, perhaps unfairly...).

**House Proctor**  
  
  
Coat of Arms: A lowered sword of white fringed with a golden aura splits a pair of dark gray manacles, framed by the family motto in gold, all on a shield of blue and red. Motto: _Audemus Jura Nostra Defendere_ (We Dare Defend Our Rights).  
  
  
Lineage:  
  
Sara Elizabeth Proctor (2890-2986, r. 2928-2986), Duchess of Arcadia, 1st March-Princess of the Arcadian Free March  
  
The Liberator herself. Born a commoner in New Salem Township of the Plymouth Peninsula, Sara was conscripted as a slave at the age of 14 and kept as a stable girl for Prince Carl's personal estate. She escaped at age 18 as a stowaway on a cargo transport, the _Melanie_. The crew and its adventuring captain, Fabian Comeau, took pity on the young woman and inducted her into the crew. For the next two decades she would travel the Inner Sphere, growing in skill and confidence under Comeau's leadership, and learning to be a pilot for the crew's beaten up _Crusader_ BattleMech, revealing herself as a naturally-gifted MechWarrior. A fellow escaped slave, William Corey, became her soulmate and lover, and trained as a MechWarrior by her side.  
  
By the time Fabian Comeau died, in a firefight in the Kuritan Periphery, Sara was the First Mate and elected by the crew to be the new Captain. She inherited a large piece of Comeau's personal wealth, as well as her own growing accounts from her shares of the lostech finds and cargo hauls the _Melanie_ made. After consultations with the others on the crew, and William, Sara made the decision to gather as many supporters and mercenaries as she could afford and return home to overthrow her former master. With their support, and aid from various other sources (Terran philanthropists as well as other nearby rulers, primarily Duke Mordecai Shaltiel, ruler of Gienah), Sara amassed her forces and returned home. The two year war that resulted shaped the rest of her life, particularly after William died saving her from Tabot at the Battle of Worcester. She finally slew her former master at Parnon and, due to the gratitude of much of her world, became ruler. For both political reasons and personal ones, she married Baron Julian Kalides, a Greco-Arcadian noble and widower, and while the two were not fully in love, the bonds of mutual loss and respect provided enough affection that they had three children, although for various reasons she never seemed to have a close relationship with any of them.  
  
As Duchess Sara would rule for over half a century, expanding her power when the nearby worlds of Gienah, Launum, and Hyde opted to accept Arcadia as leader in a new polity, the Free March, which would grow to over a dozen worlds in the first thirty years. By the age of 90 Sara's health declined to the extent she was required to have her son William become Regent, and her final years were spent trying to repair her relationships with her children, and other pursuits. When her death came, she was mourned beyond the borders of the Free March.  
  
  
  
  
William Julian Proctor (2931-3008, r. 2986-3008), Duke of Arcadia, 1st (and only) March-Prince of the Arcadian Free March  
  
The eldest son of the Liberator, William's life was spent in her shadow. Keenly aware, and hurt, by the emotional distance of his mother, William devoted himself to martial pursuits, to prove himself a worthy heir to her, becoming an officer in the Arcadian Army and later the Armed Forces of the Free March and devoting himself solely to his military duties. He would be fifty years old when he finally married and devoted himself to civil duties, as his mother's decline forced him to take the Regency. While his brother Jacob and sister Zoe had already born more children, he dutifully sired an heiress, Sara-Marie, in 2983, with a second daughter, Gabrielle, coming the following year.  
  
While Sara was content with mostly living as a civilian ruler, William's devotion to martial pursuits was not so easily diverted. He was a MechWarrior of great skill and a capable leader, and despite civil duties he insisted on going on campaigns with the Arcadian Guards. When the ambitions of House Rayhan, Amirs of Dar-es-Salaam, led to open warfare, he departed Arcadia for the better part of a decade, leading Arcadian troops in the campaigns for Mariefred, Seftenberg, and Eilenburg, and ultimately Dar-es-Salaam itself, piloting _Liberator_ \- the Star League-quality _Black Knight_ his mother piloted at Parnon - in the field on a number of occasions. While ultimately victorious in the war, which saw the Rayhans swear fealty and join the Free March, the strain of his duties and his insistence on being at the front took a toll on his health. By the dawn of the new century and millennium, William was a spent man.  
  
Returning home, he focused on civil affairs, and his ailing health forced him to recall his daughter from military education so she could learn to rule at his side, as it was clear he would not last the decade. Two strokes would gradually reduce him to the point that Sara-Marie, at the tender age of twenty-one, had to assume the Regency. He would live long enough to see the birth of his grandchildren before his death in 3008 from progressive heart failure.  
  
  
  
  
Sara-Marie Abigail Proctor (2983-3055, r. 3008-3043), Duchess of Arcadia, 2nd March-Princess of the Arcadian Free March, 1st High Queen of the Royal Federation  
  
Sara-Marie's early years were spent in the company of the ruling household, including faint memories of her legendary grandmother who would die when she was just three years old. The rest of her life was dominated by her father, March-Prince William, who ordered a military upbringing that she quietly despised, although she never rebelled like her younger sister Gabrielle did. She dutifully went off to attend Ayrshire Military Sciences Academy in 3001, but her father called her home halfway through her studies as his health declined. At his request she picked a suitable husband, a fellow cadet named Thomas Heresford, the son of the Earl of Martleford on the planet Ford. The two would have their first child in 3006, Thomas, and gratify William's desire for a stable succession before his death two years later.  
  
Thrust onto the throne at the age of twenty-five, Sara-Marie relied on family, such as her father's living siblings and their children, and on the advice of capable ministers. She nevertheless was not a rubber-stamp, sometimes clashing with the advice of her elders, even if she was usually won over by solid arguments. Outside of her governing duties, Sara-Marie continued to enjoy a happy marriage with Consort-Prince Thomas. In 3009 she gave birth to fraternal twins, Mark and Melissa, and five years later had her fourth child, Abigail. A fifth and final child, son William - "Willy" - would round out the family, and she spent much of her available time being a mother to her children, in defiance of the usual noble practice.  
  
It would be difficult to summarize Sara-Marie's reign, which saw the start of the Second Age of War and the Free March's expansion to the point it had to reform into the Royal Federation. Many would argue her role was vital in ensuring Arcadia went through the tumultuous times intact, given her emotional fortitude and stabilizing influence. It was, nevertheless, a reign that would eventually tax her endurance beyond limit and leave her, emotionally, a shattered woman. Her son Prince Mark would be maimed and nearly killed during the Bolan Rescue Operation of 3034. In 3039 Consort-Prince Thomas was among the victims of the Loki-sponsored bombing that nearly killed Prince Thomas and his bride, newly-elevated Queen Johanna Steiner of Donegal, and sparked the Donegal War of Succession. The war claimed two more of her children: Princess Melissa, a naval aerospace fighter pilot, was killed over Concord in 3042, and Prince William died in the 1st Royal Assault Regiment's failed attempt to reclaim Stewart in 3043. When peace was finally restored, Sara-Marie ratified the agreement... and within days collapsed in a nervous breakdown. By the end of the year, she signed her abdication decree, turning the Federation over to Prince Thomas, and retired to the Proctor family estate in New Salem to live her remaining years in isolation. Visits from her grandchildren, and the children of her niece and nephew, were the only occasions she hosted anyone at the New Salem estate, as she refused all interview requests or invitations from others. She passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage in 3055 at the age of 72, though those few who saw her in the final years swore she looked to be over a hundred years old. Her grieving daughter, Princess Abigail, later wrote "Mother died of a broken heart".  
  
  
  
  
Thomas George Proctor (3006-3072, r. 3043-3072), Duke of Arcadia, 1st High King of the Royal Federation  
  
The first ruler of the realm to have absolutely no memory, not even faint ones, of the founder of the House, Thomas was raised in a warm family environment with an ever-increasing number of siblings. He took greatly after his maternal grandfather, conditioning himself for a military life as a MechWarrior and barely tolerating social and civic affairs, often to the concern of his parents. In 2024 he was off to the Ayrshire Military Sciences Academy, where he excelled and proved an exceptional MechWarrior.  
  
It was fitting, as his life, and his reign, would be marked by war. While his early career as an officer and MechWarrior in the Arcadian Guards was quiet, save for Bolan in 3034, he would spent much of the following decades leading troops in battle. Ironically, the reason for this was love: he meant Johanna Steiner on Coventry while performing diplomatic duties, and the younger Donegal noblewoman quickly proved a romantic match. Their marriage was forestalled by the delicate internal situation of Donegal, but ultimately it was accepted and, unfortunately, instigated the War of Donegal Succession.  
  
That war began with a boom, a literal one, as an Estates-General meeting where Thomas and his wife addressed the nobles of the Kingdom of Donegal was struck by a Loki-instigated bomb attack. Thomas and Johanna barely escaped death, leaving the chamber two minutes earlier than scheduled, but the blast claimed numerous high nobles and Thomas' father. Shortly thereafter New Commonwealth troops arrived via pirate point, and Thomas found himself leading the Arcadian Guards in trying to secure his wife's rights to her throne. She would join him on the front, as she would for the rest of their lives, after giving birth to their first child and ensuring the line of succession.  
  
After the Commonwealth collapsed in '42, Thomas shifted to the beleaguered homefront, overseeing the counter-attack that liberated some, but not all, of the worlds conquered by Oriento-Capella in 3041 and '42. The Ten Year Peace of '43 only lasted seven years, as in 3050 came Operation: Revival, when the Terran Union began its bid to forcefully suppress the strongest Successor States and restore the Star League. At the lead of the Arcadian Guards (and with his wife likewise commanding the restored 2nd Donegal Guards), Thomas would often be in the fighting itself, including the repulsion of the Terran invasion of Arcadia, the campaign to reclaim the Isle of Skye, and the conquest of New Earth. In 3060 he joined the descent on Terra itself, sharing command with First Prince Ian Davion and General Penelope Reynolds of the Lexington Concord, and was nearly killed in the fighting with Terran Director Natasha Kerensky's personal bodyguard unit. He returned home physically damaged but otherwise alive.  
  
While he would leave following campaigns of invasion and counter-invasion against the Oriento-Capellans and Azami to his generals and children, he nevertheless took the field again in 3070 when the Concord-Compact War expanded and the Federation sided with her former enemies against the forces of Galedon and the Lexington Concord. Doing more commanding than fighting, he nevertheless saw action on Kessel and Vega, and ultimately commanded the AFRF task force that helped win the Second Battle of Tikonov in 3072. Unfortunately, during the final days of combat operations, a Galedon aerospace fighter pilot crashed his fighter into King Thomas' command post, killing Johanna and mortally wounding him. He held on long enough to pass instructions on to Prince Ethan before dying of his wounds, whispering of seeing his wife, parents, and siblings again.  
  
  
  
  
Ethan Thomas Proctor-Steiner (3040-3112, r. 3072-3112), Archduke of Arcadia and of Donegal, 2nd High King of the Royal Federation  
  
Named for his maternal uncle Archduke Ethan Steiner, High King Ethan's life began and ended in war. He was born during the War of Donegal Succession, and as a baby slept through the news of the Oriento-Capellan invasion of the Royal Federation. His warrior parents raised him to be ready to fight, and he would prove a remarkable MechWarrior, but unlike his parents he also proved adroit at socializing as well. He attended Ayrshire Military Sciences Academy as his forebearers did, but he also took a year at the Tamarind Military Institute. He had a strategist's mind when it came to war, but openly preferred peace if it could be kept honorably.  
  
In the depths of the Second Age of War, it often could not. He had his first battle at age 25 while serving as a MechWarrior in the Proctor Heavy Guards, joining that crack regiment in an operation to take Sabik alongside Consolidant troops. That proved a fateful campaign for more than one reason, as during combined operations, his lance came under heavy attack and was aided by a lance of the 4th Skye Rangers, under the command of Lieutenant Mathilda Brewer-Steiner, heiress of the Consolidant. The two became friendly, and while they did not share an immediate romantic interest, knowledge of their meeting reached Hesperus and Arcadia. Given the strain Hesperus faced, having endured significant damage in the Terran War and under repeated attacks by other neighboring powers in their weakness, the prospect of a royal marriage that would join the Consolidant to their long time allies in the Royal Federation held interest. While there was some tough negotiating, including Defiance itself reverting to a separate branch of the Brewers instead of becoming property of the main line, in 3067 the marriage treaty was finalized, and Ethan and Mathilda wed on Skye at St. Andrews' Cathedral in the capital of New Glasgow. Their eldest child, a daughter named Jacqueline for Mathilda's mother, was born eighteen months later.  
  
The call to war came shortly thereafter, when the Royal Federation joined their enemies to battle a bid by Lexington and Galedon to finally become undisputed hegemons of the Inner Sphere. Ethan and Mathilda took to the field, initially fighting beside Ethan's parents in the repulsion of the Galedon invasion of Kessel, but ultimately King Thomas entrusted their units with places in OpForce Excalibur, an AFRF task force that was dispatched across the breadth of the Inner Sphere, through previously-hostile Oriento-Capellan systems at times, to join an attempt to break the Lexington Concord-Solar Union invasion of New Avalon. The journey through their former enemy's territory was tense given the potential for betrayal, but they arrived without incident and joined one of the largest battles the Inner Sphere has seen since Kerensky's liberation of Terra. Ultimately, between their timely intervention preventing the collapse of Davion resistance and the arrival of Oriento-Capellan forces to support the AFFS-AFRF relief forces, the effort broke the enemy siege and New Avalon was secured. This began a lifelong friendship between the couple and First Princess Victoria Davion, newly-elevated after her father Ian's death in the fighting for Avalon City. Victoria's friendship would be critical to Ethan as, less than a year later, he received word from Tikonov of his parents' death, leaving him grief-stricken and oppressed by the weight of his new duties.  
  
The end of that war finally came with the short-lived Peace of Nox in 3074. Now High King, Ethan had to see to the finalization of the union of Arcadia and Donegal under the Federation and the rebuilding of the battle-stricken AFRF, as well as re-integrating Stewart and its surrounding worlds into the Federation (as part of the post-war settlement, the Federated Suns persuaded Oriento-Capella to accept Sarna and some surrounding worlds in exchange for returning Stewart to Arcadia). That proved particularly difficult in the later part of the decade, as the Oriento-Capellan Empire launched a new wave of raids and planetary invasions, including a determined effort to force the Consolidant and Federation off of their joint occupation of New Earth. This problem only grew worse in 3097 with the rise of the Scipian Dominate after Scipio O'Reilly seized power on Alphard. For the first time in over half a century, the Royal Federation had to face troops toward the Periphery as well, and Scipio's attempt to claim the Federation throne (through his paternal grandfather Prince Mark Proctor's lineage) prompted a raging conflict that left Arcadia on the precipice of disaster, with Atreus and Campbelton again besieged by Oriento-Capellan troops, a second Oriento-Capellan force striking at New Earth and Summer, and the Dominate blitzing through the unprepared defenses at Tamarind and Bolan. Ethan rallied his forces, repulsed Oriento-Capella from Atreus and then Campbelton, and prepared to face the full might of Scipio's legions on Arcadia itself. The battle would likely have broken the AFRF, win or lose, but help came from an unexpected quarter: a relief force jumped in-system, under the command of First Princess Victoria, and with the might of the 1st Davion Guards and other AFFS brigades at her back. The legions were overwhelmed and forced to retreat, and the battered AFRF restored the borders as they were antebellum while Scipio's defeat led to his assassination by his generals.  
  
Much to the surprise of everyone, Ethan did not continue the war, instead accepting Imperator Flavius' offer of peace and reparations, even though the Ghastillans were more than ready to throw in as well. Ethan's strategic acumen told him that alliance and friendship with Flavius was more important for the future. He would be proven right ten years later; in 3110 the 4th Succession War broke out over Andurien and a fresh Oriento-Capellan effort to conquer them. Ethan immediately moved to counter-invade, the war spiraled, and soon every state in the Inner Sphere was involved with fighting their neighbors. Despite his age Ethan took the field (Mathilda was no longer capable, suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's) and led the invasions of New Olympia and Asellus Australis. Success here seemed to open the way to an attack into the core of the Duchy of Oriente, but in 3111 Ethan was gravely injured in the failed invasion of Nova Roma. He was evacuated to Atreus and then Arcadia, where after the New Year, he expired from his wounds, another victim of the 4th Succession War.  
  
  
  
  
Jacqueline Sara Elizabeth Proctor(-Steiner-Brewer) (3069-3142, r. 3112-3142), Archduchess of Arcadia, Donegal, Hesperus, Skye, and New Earth, 2nd High Queen of the Royal Federation  
  
Born on the eve of the Compact-Concord War, Jacqueline was left by her parents to be raised by relatives and nannies in Roslyn while they fought on the front. Indeed, since they left while she was just a baby, "Jackie Liz" wouldn't meet her parents as a thinking being until she was six years old, when they finally returned to Arcadia in 3075. By then she was already proving an inquisitive, hot-headed child, often getting into trouble, mortifying her mother while her father proved more worried about getting her to "think about things".  
  
One result of her upbringing was that, despite intentions (and fond desires) from her Steiner relatives to make her a Steiner, her early years in Roslyn and New Salem set her firmly into an Arcadian, Proctor mold. Indeed, she would despair her relatives from that former Great House by often signing her name "Jacqueline Proctor", and only on the most official documents was the hyphenated "-Steiner" added (usually as an after-thought). She defied her mother's hope for her to attend Sanglamore, insisting on starting her education at Ayrshire first, although she did acquiesce to a year as a transfer student at Sanglamore and follow-up courses at the newly-reopened Nagelring on Tharkad.  
  
Sanglamore proved important, however, as it is was where she met her future husband, James Stuart-McQuiston. Descended from a cadet branch of the House that ruled Skye before it was compelled into the Lyran Commonwealth, James was a man of Skye through and through, while having a cooler temper that tempered Jacqueline's hot-headedness. The match was reported widely on Skye and proved popular, and given the restiveness of the population King Ethan approved his daughter's request to marry the man after she finished her military education. They would marry a month after her 25th birthday in 3094, following her completion of courses at the Nagelring, and an assignment to the 4th Skye Rangers. Much like her grandfather's association with the Arcadian Guards and her father's with the Proctor Heavy Guards, she took to her mother Mathilde's unit as her own, and would remain attached them for the rest of her life, greatly improving her popularity in the Isle of Skye in the process. During the next fifteen years, she was often with her unit, save when pregnant with her children, only returning to Arcadia in 3109 at her father's request so she could begin civic duties, including finalizing the entry of her mother's state into the Royal Federation (completed 3116).  
  
The 4th Succession War put paid to that. Leaving her husband and children to fight, Jacqueline rejoined the 4th Skye Rangers on the Skye Front, repulsing Oriento-Capellan and Azami assaults. When Galedon's entry to the war resulted in the near-overrunning of the Azami, her unit was employed offensively in securing Kessel... and promptly had to fight off the 18th Galedon Regulars and Otomo when Galedon continued right on toward the old Combine border. Jacqueline was severely wounded in this fighting, losing an arm and half her leg, and had to be lifted out by DropShip while the 4th Skye Rangers fought a delaying action that would leave the regiment utterly broken when reinforcements arrived.  
  
The blow of her mother's beloved unit being smashed while she wasn't there to fight was hard enough, but Jacqueline had another blow waiting: her father's death on Arcadia from his wounds. Her convalescence was to be joined with having to assume the throne and command the war from there. She adapted, with James as always providing a soothing influence, and her eldest son - also named James - providing her a grandson, Nathaniel, before he went off to the front with the Proctor Heavy Guards in 3117.  
  
The 4th Succession War would rage on until 3120, and Jacqueline would be battered by the fortunes of war as Arcadia seemed to be fighting with all of its neighbors at once. Under her initiative some of the tide turned when, in 3114, she negotiated an end to the fighting with Sudeten and Rasalhague, exchanging the Duchy of Buckminster - reclaimed from the Azami but now under Galedon threat - for Arcturus and the traditionally Lyran worlds surrounding the system, and re-arranging parts of the Sudeten-Ghastillan border to their allies' satisfaction. This settlement, combined with other deals with some of the other belligerents, gradually improved the Federation's strategic position before the Congress of Dieron settled the war and established peace.  
  
By then, however, tragedy had already struck again. Prince James and the Proctor Heavy Guards were among the units that struck at Sirius to seize it from Oriento-Capella, and while they were triumphant over the Imperial forces there, Prince James didn't live to see it, dying in the final weeks of fighting.  
  
This was why Jacqueline wasn't happy with the peace, as it returned Sirius to Oriento-Capella. After three years of calm, an incident on Terra provided her the pretense to commence an invasion, a bloody affair that nearly restarted full-scale war before the "Concert of the Sphere", as the post-Dieron situation was becoming known, compelled her to back down and withdraw from the fighting. The loss left Jacqueline bitter. Feeling like her son's death was for nothing, that her people in Skye were exposed to danger, and that she couldn't do anything about it without risking the destruction of the Federation, Jacqueline let her husband and other high officials manage the Federation's affairs while she simply gave her approval to whatever they suggested. She retreated into the familiar; raising her grandson Nathaniel along with James' widow, Princess Sita Umayr of Bolan, and engaging in physical activity with her usual impetuousness. Anything to escape the pain of what the War took from her.  
  
The years of peace saw her injured several times from those activities, but nothing serious came until February 3142. During a "friendly" unarmed 'Mech duel with a former Solaris champion, Giselle Swanson, Jacqueline's control slipped, and what Giselle had intended as a smack to the 'Mech's shoulder instead slammed into, and through, Jacqueline's cockpit. The horrified woman quickly summoned help, but while Jacqueline was technically alive, the medics were unable to stabilize her crushed body in time. She died as she'd lived for many years, a victim of her own impetuousness, her body as broken as her heart.  
  
  
  
  
Nathaniel Ethan Proctor (3117-, r. 3142-), Archduke of Arcadia, Donegal, and Skye, Prince of Bolan, 3rd High King of the Royal Federation  
  
Born in the final years of the 4th Succession War, Nathaniel's father died while he was still young. He was raised by his griefstricken mother and grandmother, with his grandfather James and a granduncle, Lord Peter Proctor-Steiner, as his father figures. Destined to be an only child, Nathaniel grew up with cousins for siblings, but proved quite keen to play with the children of the commoners staffing the Royal Palace and to learn everything he could about them. Indeed, his curiosity has proven utterly insatiable.  
  
Given his age, most of his life was spent in peace, and the carnage of his grandmother's attack on Sirius in 3123 disturbed the boy enough that he asserted he didn't want to learn to fight, but to make peace. While this somewhat scandalized his grandparents, Lord Peter - the youngest of Ethan and Mathilda's children - was more than happy to entertain the thought, while gently steering Nathaniel toward acceptance of duty.  
  
Nevertheless Nathaniel was quite determined to do things his way, and when the time came for his military education to commence, he divided his time between Ayrshire Military Sciences Academy and the Royal University of Roslyn, where he studied almost everything that seemed of interest, particularly history and physics. He qualified for admission to the Advanced Physics department, in fact, but couldn't secure permission to attend due to the needs of his military education. Undaunted, he signed up for a correspondence course to slowly continue his scientific education even as he went through his final years at Ayrshire. He graduated in 3139 in the upper twenty percentile and, at request, was assigned to the Bolan Heavy Guards, his maternal grandparents' favored unit.  
  
He was still on Bolan in 3142, now a Lance Lieutenant, when the call came from Arcadia about his grandmother's accidental death. It was a heavy blow to the young man, but there was nothing to do but return to Arcadia and take over the reins of government, with the help of Lord Peter and other senior family members and officials. In his spare time he keeps up with his curiosities in various fields, including consulting experts in the Privy Council. Diplomatically, he is a supporter of the Concert of the Sphere, and while it's too early to assert prerogatives in foreign policy, is already indicating he is interested in settling a permanent border with his neighbors to ensure the Concert holds.


	7. Fluff - AFRF BattleMech Regiments circa 3142

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another fun little bit, I drew up an OrBat of the AFRF as of the start of this story, although I didn't give it the full Field Manual workup I might've otherwise done.

**AFRF (Armed Forces of the Royal Federation) Regiments**

BattleMech Regiments = 73 House Regiments, 5 House-aligned Mercenaries, 4 Contracted Mercenary Regiments, 1 Contracted Mercenary Battalion, 25 Militia Regiments

While initially sticking to the standard SLDF system of triangular units, early Second Age of War reforms prompted the AFFM, and later AFRF, to adopt "square" regiments, that is, regiments of four battalions instead of three, for their 'Mech and armor formations.

Combined arms, and the use of organic support units for 'Mech regiments, is a staple of AFRF organization. They generally come as Combat Divisions (3 armored regiments, 5-6 infantry regiments, and a full aerospace regiment of 2 groups in 3 wings apiece), Regimental Combat Teams (2 armored regiments, 3-5 infantry regiments, and a reinforced aerospace group of 4 wings), and Support Brigades (a combination of infantry and armor with a standard aerospace group of 3 wings).

Organic aerospace support is crucial to AFRF operational doctrine, and as such, virtually every regiment maintains an authorized strength of an aerospace group with three wings. A handful of aerospace divisions exist as potential backup, although commonly such additional assistance is provided by the Arcadian Navy's Aerospace Arm.

**Arcadian Founding Units**

These regiments were the core of the Armed Forces of the Free March when the realm was initially founded in 2956. They are kept in service to maintain that link of tradition and memory. The Arcadian Guards employ a full-size Combat Division, and the Gienah Heavy Fusiliers and 1st Cavalry have RCTs, while the other units have Brigades. Technically the Arcadian Rangers are considered part of the Ranger Corps, but as an original AFFM unit they are counted here.

Arcadian Guards: Pride of the Free (Elite/Fanatical)  
Arcadian Rangers: The Liberator's Own (Veteran/Fanatical)  
1st Free March Cavalry Brigade: _E Pluribus Unum_ (Regular/Reliable)  
Hyde Lancers: Always Steadfast (Regular/Reliable)  
Gienah Heavy Fusiliers: Sentinels of Hope (Regular/Reliable)  
1st Launum Armored Cavalry: _Viva Launumeños!_ (Green/Reliable)

**Royal Guard Corps**

The Royal Guards were formed to commemorate the evolution of the Free March into the Royal Federation. Entering service in 3039, 3048, and 3066 respectively, they represent the pinnacle of the AFRF's capabilities, each maintaining a full Combat Division for support.

1st Royal Guards: Defenders of the Dream (Elite/Fanatical)  
2nd Royal Guards: Keepers of the Faith (Veteran/Fanatical)  
3rd Royal Guards: Guardians of the Realm (Veteran/Fanatical)

**Household Guards Corps**

Recognizing the effectiveness of the Davion Brigade of Guards during the Wars of Restoration, the reformed AFRF adopted the concept as a means to further solidify the expanded realm's links to House Proctor. While originally raised in the 30th Century in the early AFFM, the Proctor Light Horse were made the flagship unit of the House Guards, followed by the Proctor Assault and Heavy Guards officially joining the rolls in 3041. The numbered Guards Regiments were founded afterward. Each is the center of a Combat Division.

Proctor Light Horse: Dare To Defend (Regular/Reliable)  
Proctor Assault Guards: The Hammers of the Liberator (Veteran/Fanatical)  
Proctor Heavy Guards: Swords of the Proctors (Elite/Fanatical)  
1st Proctor Guards: The Chain-Breakers (Veteran/Reliable)  
2nd Proctor Guards: The Hawksworn (Regular/Fanatical)  
3rd Proctor Guards: Dragonslayers (Regular/Fanatical)

**Strikers Corps**

Initially formed as battalion-level combined arms units by March-Prince William in 2890, to combat the raiders of House Rayhan on Dar-es-Salaam, the Strikers were stood down in 3004 following victory and the reorganization of the early renaissance AFFM into a peacetime force. Starting in 3035 they were brought back into service as full Combat Brigades formed around BattleMech regiments. They are built as heavy raiders and trained in combat drop and heavy cavalry operations, favoring faster 'Mechs and refusing any machine slower than 86 kph. Their Support Brigades consist of regiments of armored infantry, air cavalry, and jump infantry, as well as the customary aerospace support.

2nd Strikers: Ghost Killers (Veteran/Reliable)  
5th Strikers: Death Scythes (Regular/Reliable)  
8th Strikers: Sunhawks (Veteran/Fanatical)  
10th Strikers: Nighthunters (Regular/Reliable)

**Donegal Guards**

One of the casualties of the collapse of the Lyran Commonwealth and dissolution of the LCAF, the Donegal Guards were reformed by Queen Johanna Steiner, starting with the 2nd Donegal Guards during the peak of the War of Donegal Succession in 3041. At their peak strength the Donegal Guards were at ten regiments, but the destruction of the 5th and 9th in the Fourth Succession War, and losses to the others, led to a retraction to the current number of six. Every regiment is the center of an RCT.

2nd Donegal Guards: The Unwearied Second (Elite/Fanatical)  
4th Donegal Guards: The Resolute Fourth (Regular/Questionable)  
6th Donegal Guards: White Hawks (Regular/Fanatical)  
8th Donegal Guards: The Gentlemen (Veteran/Reliable)  
13th Donegal Guards: Black Cats (Regular/Reliable)  
14th Donegal Guards: The Dawnchargers (Regular/Reliable)

**Atrean Dragoons**

In order to raise pride and support among the former Marik Commonwealth worlds under its banner, including conquered Atreus itself, the AFRF restored to existence the Atrean Dragoons to protect the Principality of Atreus. They are ceremonially under the joint command of the Prince or Princess of Atreus - the Heir-Apparent to the Royal Federation's throne - and the Archduke of Atreus, the leader of House Marik. While there has occasionally been loyalty issues, the Atrean Dragoons have repeatedly proven their worth to the Royal Federation's cause, primarily in conflict with the Oriento-Capellan Empire, and are formed around RCTs.

1st Atrean Dragoons: Rising Eagles (Elite/Reliable)  
3rd Atrean Dragoons: Pillars of Strength (Regular/Reliable)  
5th Atrean Dragoons: Devastation (Regular/Questionable)

**Skye Rangers**

The Skye Rangers, like many units, went through dark times during the collapse of the Great Houses in the 2nd Succession War. Only two regiments, the 4th and 17th, survived the collapse, and served as mercenaries until recruited by House Brewer on Hesperus. While the liberation of Skye (as they saw it) won their loyalty to House Brewer, they were destroyed by the forces of the Tikonov Union on Summer in 3037 in the final months of the Second Andurien War. Reformed by Defiance-Hesperus during the dark days of the War of Donegal Succession, the Skye Rangers had their comeback fighting the Terran occupation of the Isle of Skye. They were folded into the AFRF in 3115 when High Queen Jacqueline officially succeeded her late mother as ruler of Hesperus and brought the Consolidant into the Federation, and while they were very loyal to the Queen - who finished her military studies at Sanglamore and married into the McQuiston line - her grandson Nathaniel has so far failed to win the same love, and the AFRF does not consider the majority of the Skye Rangers reliable. Each fields a Support Brigade for combined arms purposes.

4th Skye Rangers: Albion (Veteran/Reliable)  
8th Skye Rangers: Eradicators (Regular/Reliable)  
10th Skye Rangers: The Black Watch (Elite/Questionable)  
11th Skye Rangers: Guardians of Skye (Regular/Questionable)  
17th Skye Rangers: The Boys of Summer (Regular/Questionable)

**Dar-es-Salaam Cavalry**

Founded by the Amirs (Dukes) of Dar-es-Salaam after the collapse of the Lyran Commonwealth, the Dar-es-Salaam Cavalry were a fearsome force in the 30th Century, ensuring their homeworld remained inviolate from attack and protecting Muslim populations on other nearby worlds. When the Rayhans turned to conquest they fought valiantly, but were ultimately defeated by the AFFM. Under the terms of Dar-es-Salaam joining the Free March, the surviving units were rolled into the 1st Cavalry and continued to serve with distinction, and the wealth of the Federation has allowed the restoration of the force to its current strength of three 'Mech regiments, each with a Support Brigade.

1st Dar-es-Salaam Cavalry: The Sword of the Faithful (Regular/Reliable)  
2nd Dar-es-Salaam Cavalry: Shadows in the Desert (Regular/Questionable)  
4th Dar-es-Salaam Cavalry: The Amir's Chosen (Green/Reliable)

**Bolan Corps**

The Bolan Corps began as the Free Bolan Corps, representing troops from the planet Gypsum and others that escaped the Marian Hegemony's conquest of the Principality of Bolan in 3033 and 3034. With the exception of the Bolan Irregulars, who were folded into the Principality Militia in 3064, these units have remained in service since their first mustering into the AFFM in 3035. The Bolan Heavy Guards are the showpiece unit of the force and have a full Combat Divison in support. The Hussars and Cavalry each have an RCT in support. The Bolan Rangers, officially a part of the Ranger Corps, have a Support Brigade.

Bolan Heavy Guards: Strength of the Umayrs (Veteran/Fanatical)  
Bolan Hussars: The Defiant Ones (Regular/Reliable)  
Bolan Rangers: Death from Above (Regular/Reliable)  
Bolan Cavalry: Legacy of the Marathi (Green/Reliable)

**Ranger Corps**

The Rangers are built for raiding, particularly through combat drops on enemy units and facilities, often employing more assault DropShips than usual even if it reduces the size of their support forces. The Arcadian Rangers served as a blueprint for the force, with the regiments named for the major planets of the Federation (with the obvious exception of Skye for obvious reasons. Confusing a proper Ranger Corps trooper for someone in the Skye Rangers is a quick way to lose your teeth, it's said). Each has a reduced support element, typically a wing or two of aerospace fighters and a regiment of battle armor.

Tamarind Rangers: The Tenacious Third (Regular/Reliable)  
Alarion Rangers: Hunters on the Rim (Regular/Reliable)  
Donegal Rangers: Straightshooters (Regular/Reliable)  
Tharkad Rangers: Ethan's Hounds (Veteran/Fanatical)

**Royal BattleMech Regiments**

Originally the Free March Regiments, the Royal BattleMech Regimetns - BMRs for short - are the workhorse regiments of the AFRF. While they don't always have the best gear, they're kept to reliable standards, and they've usually proven vital in campaigns even if their battle histories don't always have the shiny appeal of the elite units. Each employs an RCT of support forces.

1st Royal BattleMech Regiment: First In, Last Out (Veteran/Reliable)  
2nd Royal BattleMech Regiment: The Iron Wall (Elite/Fanatical)  
3rd Royal BattleMech Regiment: The Comeback Kings (Regular/Reliable)  
4th Royal BattleMech Regiment: The Shiny Ones (Regular/Reliable)  
5th Royal BattleMech Regiment: The Battling Bastards (Regular/Fanatical)  
6th Royal BattleMech Regiment: Shock and Awe (Green/Reliable)  
7th Royal BattleMech Regiment: Unlucky Number Seven (Regular/Questionable)  
8th Royal BattleMech Regiment: Pieces of Eight (Regular/Reliable)

**Royal Lancers**

Initially, formed as part of the AFFM's reorganization of its militias in the 3030s, the Lancers are medium-weight 'Mech formations built for maneuver warfare. They're a favorite unit for those of British cultural background inside the Federation. Each has a Support Brigade to assist them in combat.

1st Royal Lancers: Death or Glory (Veteran/Reliable)  
2nd Royal (Irish) Lancers: Clear the Way! (Elite/Fanatical)  
3rd Royal Lancers: The Raiders of Rahne (Regular/Reliable)  
4th Royal Lancers: The Queen's Own (Green/Fanatical)  
5th Royal (Irish) Lancers: Pride of Erin (Regular/Fanatical)  
7th Royal Lancers: The Blades of the Wallaces (Green/Reliable)

**Royal Cuirassiers**

Heavy-weight regiments, the Royal Cuirassiers fulfill the role of heavy cavalry and line combat units with RCTs in support. The 1st Royal Cuirassiers paved the way when formed in 3037, with the subsequent forces coming about in the 3040s and 3050s.

1st Royal Cuirassiers: The Undaunted (Veteran/Reliable)  
2nd Royal Cuirassiers: Heavy Metal (Regular/Reliable)  
3rd Royal Cuirassiers: Terra's Bane (Regular/Reliable)

**Royal Assault Brigade**

Noticing the effectiveness of the Lexington Concord's favored tactics with combat dropped assault 'Mechs, the AFRF likewise founded the Assault Regiments for a similar role, employing them often as shock troops to support wider invasions or disrupt enemy defenses. Due to the nature of the usual operations they're in, the Royal Assault Regiments typically only have a small aerospace support force, relying on other units to provide combined arms support in general operations.

1st Royal Assault Regiment: Metal Rain (Regular/Reliable)  
2nd Royal Assault Regiment: The Manhunters (Regular/Reliable)  
3rd Royal Assault Regiment: Crushing Fury (Regular/Fanatical)  
5th Royal Assault Regiment: The Rose Tramplers (Regular/Reliable)  
8th Royal Assault Regiment: Warhammers (Elite/Fanatical)  
10th Royal Assault Regiment: The Crown's Maul (Veteran/Fanatical)

**Assorted Local Units**

Given the variety of worlds and cultural influences in the Royal Federation, a number of units exist that are not part of a corps.

2nd Tamarind Guards: The River Watch (Regular/Questionable)

Formed from support forces gleaned from the Tamarind Rangers, the 2nd Tamarind Guards RCT is a hotbed of Tamarindian nationalism. Their claim to fame came during the Dominate Invasion, when they took to a guerrilla campaign and were still resisting Scipio O'Reilly's legions when Federation troops arrived to liberate the planet.

1st Marik Regulars: The Eagle's Shield (Green/Questionable)  
2nd Marik Regulars: The Prince's Sword (Green/Reliable)

Founded by grants from House Marik, the Marik Regulars have yet to be raised to sufficient numbers to be their own force in the AFRF. They've quickly become a dumping ground for underperforming personnel, and are only employing Support Brigades.

Concord Borderers: Liberty for All (Regular/Reliable)

Formed by a grant from the Duke of Concord before the Second Age of War, the Concord Borderers have faced several tough campaigns in their time, including nearly being destroyed resisting the Oriento-Capellan invasion of their homeworld in 3042 and the later Terran attack on Concord in 3051. They employ a Support Brigade and remain an independent regiment of the AFRF to this day.

New Kyoto Roshigumi: The Blades of Honor (Veteran/Fanatical)

Founded in 3036 by Setsunahime Endo, daimyo of New Kyoto, after her homeworld was liberated from the dying Marik Commonwealth, the Roshigumi were initially a fanatically-devoted militia, but their performance in fighting the Terran invasion forces in the 3050s, and being one of the few units to survive the near-conquest of the Consolidant by the Terran Union, led to their being upgraded in the eyes of the Consolidant. They remain a veteran force to this day, having made their name - ironically enough - in battles against the Galedon Mutual Co-Prosperity Sphere during the Concord-Compact War and the 4th Succession War, and have occasionally joined the minor raids that occasionally disturb the Concert of the Sphere, again favoring the restored Draconis Combine as a foe.

1st Arcturan Guards: A New Tradition (Green/Reliable)

As part of the effort to integrate Arcturus into the Royal Federation after winning the key system from Rasalhague in 3114, the AFRF strove to reform the Arcturan Guards. The losses of the 4th Succession War and other commitments undermined this effort, however, and only recently, in 3138, was the 1st Arcturan Guards RCT brought into service. While claiming the battle history of the old 1st Arcturan Guards of the LCAF, this new force has yet to see any combat of their own.

**House-Aligned Mercenaries**

These mercenary forces are aligned directly with House Proctor, and while they accept contracts from other employers, they will never ignore the call of the rulers of the Royal Federation to service.

The Warrior Monks of St. Cameron (Elite/Fanatical)

These mystics, who believe religiously that the later Camerons were holy martyrs, are the White Knights of the Inner Sphere, often accepting contracts not to receive pay but to serve humanity. While this ordinarily kept them from supporting one House over another, their ties to the founding legend of House Proctor - having sworn their 'Mechs and lives to Sara Proctor's Liberation War - eventually led them to accept High Queen Sara-Marie's offer of a permanent home on Arcadia in 3040. While they are not bound to fight for the Royal Federation (especially if they feel the cause is not just), they have nevertheless remained steadfast in their defense of House Proctor's survival, aiding in the defense of Arcadia in both the Terran invasion of 3050 and the Dominate's attack in 3099. They are headquartered in the city of Mantinea in Central Islay, near where their brothers fell defending freed slaves in 2827.

The Kell Hounds (Elite/Reliable and Regular/Reliable) - 2 regiments

The Kell Hounds were founded by a grant from the New Commonwealth in the 3030s, given to Morgan and Patrick Kell at the behest of their cousin Arthur Luvon. While the regiments were nearly destroyed fighting the Royal Federation and Loyalist Donegal forces in the War of Donegal Succession, they were rebuilt after the war when Morgan Kell accepted amnesty from Queen Johanna and became Archduke of Arc-Royal. As mercenaries they serve across the Inner Sphere, but are bound by feudal law to return home and serve the Federation should their rulers call for them. As such they frequently train with House units.

Ransom's Raiders (Regular/Reliable)

This mercenary outfit has a long history with the Arcadian Federation, such that when General Tom Ransom inherited the unit in 3080, he was willing to accept an offer to give the AFRF first right to his regiment's services upon each contract expiring, and will refuse any contract to serve against the AFRF.

Brothers of Cincinnatus (Regular/Fanatical)

These Lyran nationalists hope to one day restore the Lyran Commonwealth to its former size and glory, and see the Royal Federation as their only hope for that accomplishment to come about. As a result, they have sworn to defend the Lyran core worlds, particularly their homeworld of Tharkad, against invasion by non-Lyran forces, while awaiting the day that House Proctor-Steiner embraces its destiny as the rulers of a new Lyran Commonwealth.

**Other Mercenary Companies**

The AFRF has hired a number of mercenary units to help shore up defenses along critical borders, even though the Concert of the Sphere has led to very little fighting in the last twenty years (at least compared to the warring and skirmishing of the Second Age of War).

The Gravediggers (Veteran/Reliable and Regular/Reliable) (2 regiments)  
The Mother-Flakkers (Regular/Reliable) (1 regiment)  
Astoc's Army (Regular/Reliable) (1 regiment)  
Hamilton's Land-Air Brigade (Veteran/Reliable) (1 regiment)  
Arano's Marauders (Elite/Reliable) (1 specialized battalion, including _Argo_ )

**Principality and March Militias**

The Militias are forces of one to three 'Mech regiments, plus support assets, responsible for protecting the worlds of the various Marches and Principalities of the Royal Federation. They typically train with both the line units and the local planetary militia forces.

Arcadia Royal March Militia (Green/Fanatical) (3 regiments)  
Atreus Principality Militia (Green/Reliable) (3 regiments)  
Bolan Principality Militia (Green/Fanatical)  
Dar-es-Salaam March Militia (Green/Reliable)  
Concord Free State Militia (Green/Reliable)  
Alarion March Militia (Green/Reliable)  
Arc-Royal March Militia (Green/Reliable)  
Donegal-Tharkad Royal March Militia (Green/Reliable) (3 regiments)  
Odessa-Porrima March Militia (Green/Reliable)  
Arcturus March Militia (Green/Questionable)  
Alexandria March Militia (Green/Reliable)  
Skye Royal March Militia (Green/Questionable) (3 regiments)  
Hesperus Principality Militia (Green/Reliable)  
New Earth March Militia (Green/Reliable) (2 regiments)  
Stewart-Campbelton March Militia (Green/Fanatical)  
Triplanetary Republic Free State Militia (Green/Questionable)


	8. Fluff - AFRF Unit Organization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Most BTech field manual sourcebooks have this listed, so naturally I did the same.

**AFRF Unit Organization**  
  
  
The Armed Forces of the Royal Federation have adapted the traditional SLDF unit structure in many ways, although with innovations and alterations based off even older historical practices and the experiences of the services since their inception. In practice, some of the larger units listed have only existed as paper units for exercises, strategic studies, or for immediate campaigns. In general everything above the regiment/brigade level for armies and group level for aerospace forces exists only as a possible organization, typically because larger formations are a mixture of types and not purely of one or the other. The Royal Navy likewise practices a loose form of the planned force structure due to its available assets, with flotillas, strike groups, squadrons, and battle fleets as the highest organizational element typically in service.  
  
In terms of combined operations, the AFRF forms Operational Forces or OpForces out of specific regiments, brigades, aerospace forces, and naval units, who can sometimes be placed in an Operational Group for command for multi-system combat operations. These units are provisionally commanded by three star officers.  
  
  
  
  


**AFRF BattleMech Organization** |  |  |  |   
---|---|---|---|---  
**Element** |  | **Component Units** |  | **Combat Strength**  
Lance |  | 4 BattleMechs |  | 4 BattleMechs  
Company |  | 3 Lances |  | 12 BattleMechs  
Battalion |  | 3 Companies + Command Lance |  | 40 BattleMechs  
Reinforced Battalion |  | 4 Companies + Command Lance |  | 52 BattleMechs  
Regiment |  | 4 Battalions + Command Company |  | 172-220 BattleMechs  
Division (Theoretical) |  | 3-4 Regiments |  | 516-880 BattleMechs  
|  |  |  |   
**AFRF Vehicle Organization** |  |  |  |   
**Element** |  | **Component Units** |  | **Combat Strength**  
Platoon |  | 4 vehicles |  | 4 vehicles  
Company |  | 3 Platoons |  | 12 vehicles  
Battalion |  | 3 Companies + Command Platoon |  | 40 vehicles  
Reinforced Battalion |  | 4 Companies + Command Platoon |  | 52 vehicles  
Regiment |  | 4 Battalions + Command Company |  | 172-220 vehicles  
Division (Theoretical) |  | 3-4 Regiments |  | 516-880 vehicles  
|  |  |  |   
**AFRF Artillery Organization** |  |  |  |   
**Element** |  | **Component Units** |  | **Combat Strength**  
Section |  | 1 gun |  | 1 gun  
Platoon |  | 4 sections |  | 4 guns  
Battery |  | 3 platoons |  | 12 guns  
Battalion |  | 3 batteries |  | 36 guns  
Regiment (Theoretical) |  | 2-4 battalions |  | 72-144 guns  
|  |  |  |   
**AFRF Infantry Organization** |  |  |  |   
**Element** |  | **Component Units** |  | **Combat Strength**  
Fire Team |  | 4 troops |  | 4 troops  
Squad |  | 3 fire teams |  | 12 troops  
Platoon |  | 2 squads + Command Section |  | 28 troops  
Company |  | 3 Platoons + Command Squad |  | 96 troops  
Battalion |  | 3 Companies + HQ |  | 320 troops  
Reinforced Battalion |  | 4 Companies + HQ |  | 416 troops  
Regiment |  | 3 Battalions + HQ |  | 1,020-1,328 troops  
Brigade |  | 2-5 Regiments + HQ |  | 2,040-6,640 troops  
Division (Theoretical) |  | 2-4 Brigades |  | 4,080-26,560 troops  
|  |  |  |   
**AFRF Battle Armor Infantry Organization** |  |  |  |   
**Element** |  | **Component Units** |  | **Combat Strength**  
Squad |  | 6 troops |  | 6 troops  
Platoon |  | 4 squads |  | 24 troops  
Company |  | 3 platoons + Command Squad |  | 78 troops  
Battalion |  | 4 companies |  | 312 troops  
Reinforced Battalion |  | 5-6 companies |  | 390-468 troops  
Regiment |  | 3 battalions |  | 1,170-1,404 troops  
|  |  |  |   
**AFRF Aerospace Organization** |  |  |  |   
**Element** |  | **Component Units** |  | **Combat Strength**  
Flight |  | 4 fighters |  | 4 fighters  
Squadron |  | 3 flights |  | 12 fighters  
Wing |  | 2 squadrons + Command Flight |  | 28 fighters  
Group |  | 2-4 wings + Command Squadron |  | 68-124 fighters  
Regiment |  | 2-3 groups |  | 136-372 fighters  
Division |  | 2-3 regiments |  | 272-1,116 fighters  
|  |  |  |   
**AFRF Naval Organization*** |  |  |  |   
**Element** |  | **Component Units** |  | **Combat Strength**  
Flotilla |  | 2-6 ships |  | 2-6 ships  
Squadron |  | 2 flotillas |  | 4-12 ships  
Strike Force (DropShip Only) |  | 2+ squadrons |  | 8-48+ ships  
Battle Fleet |  | 2+ squadrons |  | 16-96+ ships  
  
  
  
*The AFRF naval unit designations can change depending on whether a WarShip is employed in a formation. Most WarShips are assigned to Squadrons, save the four battleships _Arcadia_ , _Donegal_ , _Atreus_ , and _Skye_ , which are each the flagship of a Battle Fleet and have their own mixed Flotilla, typically a Carrier DropShip, a pair of Picket DropShips (sometimes called "pockets" due to mounting capital-scale missiles or subcapital weaponry), and a number of Marine-lander Assault DropShips. Typically WarShip Squadrons are 2-3 WarShips plus attached DropShips. The Battle Fleets consist of the Flagship Flotilla (one of the battleships with their DropShips), a Cruiser Squadron (two heavy cruisers and attached DropShips), a Screening Squadron (two frigates and DropShips), and a Missile Squadron (2-3 missile-armed frigates and destroyers with attached DropShips). A regiment worth of Marine battle armor are attached to each Battle Fleet.


	9. Fluff - AFRF Rank Structure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rank listing, including description of the insignia. Sorry, but I can't draw worth a damn, so you'll need to take the description for what it is.

**AFRF Rank Structure**  
  
The ranking system of the AFRF is based on a combination of SLDF practice and historical usages dating back to the 20th Century. Like many Inner Sphere house militaries Naval commands use an alternative naming list, even if under AFRF regulations the ranks are equivalent in base pay (before specialty considerations). As a result of the reforms after the Terran War, the Aerospace forces use their own ranking system for planet-based commands (including those assigned to regiments and brigades), while naval aerospace forces use naval ranks entirely.  
  
Like most traditional militaries, the AFRF's ranks are divided into four categories: enlisted personnel, non-commissioned officer, commissioned officer or field officer, and general officer. The first two are drawn from volunteers and drafted personnel who have not yet graduated from either an Officer Commissioning School, the collegiate Reserve Officer Training or one of the Military Academies of the Royal Federation such as the Ayrshire Military Sciences Academy on Arcadia, the Nagelring on Tharkad, or Sanglamore on Skye.  
  
  
 **Enlisted Ranks  
  
  
Private/Crewman/Airman Recruit**  
The lowest rank, this is assigned to fresh volunteers or draftees into the AFRF, with the distinction decided by which branch they are assigned to after their completion of the AFRF Military Aptitudes Exam. Promotion out of this rank usually takes place after 4-6 months, although some personnel are returned to it as a result of punishment under military law and regulations. Instead of a rank insignia they typically wear an empty patch where the rank would normally go.  
  
While the official rank title uses the "-man" suffix, it is common practice to employ "-woman" where appropriate.  
  
 **Private/Crewman Apprentice/Airman**  
This is the basic rank of enlisted personnel of the AFRF. Their rank insignia is one raised chevron.  
  
 **Private, First Class/Crewman/Airman, First Class**  
This rank is typically awarded to privates who perform their duties exceptionally, although it is not in favor with the entire AFRF. Soldiers of this rank are often tasked with greater responsibility to prepare them for promotion. Their rank insignia is two raised chevrons.  
  
 **Lance Corporal/Senior Crewman/Specialist**  
The highest rank for basic enlisted personnel, Lance Corporals and their equivalents are often in charge of small detachments of enlisted personnel, like an infantry fire team or the crew responsible for a specific aerospacecraft. Their rank insignia is two raised chevrons and one lowered chevron.  
  
  
  
 **Non-Commissioned Officers  
  
  
Corporal/Petty Officer/Corporal**  
The first non-commissioned officer rank. Corporals are often section leaders in infantry or oversee specific work details. In militia they are often the lowest-ranked MechWarriors. Their rank insignia is two raised chevrons and two lowered ones.  
  
 **Sergeant/Petty Officer 1st Class/Air Sergeant**  
Sergeants form the backbone of the AFRF, with their experience qualifying them for wider command responsibilities such as squad leadership in infantry or command of vehicles, second-in-command of militia BattleMech lances, or working as management in supply and other logistics commands. Their naval counterparts oversee work teams or perform specific duties with electronic gear they have been trained to operate and maintain. Air Sergeants likewise direct the tasks of the support air crews for aerospace craft. Their rank insignia is three raised chevrons and two lowered ones.  
  
 **Color Sergeant/Chief Petty Officer/Staff Sergeant**  
These veteran NCOs oversee greater numbers of enlisted personnel in their commands and are often tasked with seeing to the seasoning of newly-commissioned officers, especially those fresh out of the academy, as they often hold positions like second-in-command of a platoon or the senior NCO of a vehicle unit or departmental work crew. Their rank insignia is three raised chevrons and two lowered ones with a star in the middle.  
  
 **Master Sergeant/Senior Chief Petty Officer/First Sergeant**  
With over two decades of service to their name, these NCOs hold key positions in the management infrastructure of the AFRF. They are mentors, senior managers, and often advisors to senior field officers. Their rank insignia is three raised chevrons and two lowered ones with twin stars in the middle arranged side by side.  
  
 **Sergeant Major/Master Chief Petty Officer/Sergeant Major**  
The men and women at this rank have power rivaling even field officers, as they often help oversee entire departments within the AFRF administrative structure or work as the senior NCOs of field combat units. Many will have served for thirty years before reaching this rank. Their rank insignia is three raised chevrons and two lowered ones with three stars in the middle, arranged in a pyramid shape.  
  
 **Command Sergeant Major/Command Master Chief Petty Officer/Command Sergeant Major**  
At this rank, the NCOs work side by side with the general officers in charge of major military formations or commands, giving advice born from their long experience. They govern the promotions into the higher echelons of the AFRF's NCO rank structure. The most respected among them is often entitled the Command Sergeant Major or Command Master Chief of the AFRF. The rank insignia for this rank are three raised chevrons and two lowered ones with a hawk insignia in the middle.  
  
  
 **Commissioned Officers  
  
Cadet/Officer-Candidate**  
A rank assigned to those still in officer training. Cadets are for academy students while personnel undergoing an Officer Commissioning School course are called Officer-Candidates for the duration of their education. They wear thin silver bars arranged into a row, each bar representing a year of military collegiate education.  
  
 **2nd Lieutenant/Ensign/Lieutenant**  
The lowest officer rank. 2nd Lieutenants command platoons of infantry or vehicles or serve as MechWarriors in line regiment lances. In the Aerospace forces Lieutenants (or Ensigns) are the junior pilots of a Flight. Their rank insignia is a vertical silver bar.  
  
 **1st Lieutenant/Lieutenant (J.G.)/Flight Lieutenant**  
In infantry and vehicle commands they are only distinguishable by having the different rank insignia. 1st Lieutenants are typically lance commanders in BattleMech regiments, and are sometimes referred to as "Lance Lieutenants" in this capacity, while Flight Lieutenants oversee Aerospace Flights. Their rank insignia is a vertical gold bar.  
  
 **Captain/Lieutenant/Squadron Captain**  
These officers are the basic backbone of the officer corps, having a few years of experience to season them and prepare them for greater command responsibilities. In the army and aerospace contingents they command companies and squadrons. Naval Lieutenants usually serve as either detachment commanders on large ships or as control officers. Their rank insignia is two vertical gold bars with a hawk insignia set between them.  
  
 **Major/Lieutenant Commander/Wing Commander**  
Majors are typically employed either as commanders of individual aerospace wings or as the executive officers of battalions. Their naval counterparts usually oversee departments on large ships or may even command the smaller DropShips, or serve as executive officers on unarmed JumpShips. The rank insignia is three vertical gold bars with a hawk insignia over the middle bar.  
  
 **Lieutenant Colonel/Commander/Group Captain**  
Once a Major-rank officer has proven themselves as command materials in battalion XO positions, they are raised to Lieutenant Colonel rank and often given their own battalions. In ground-based aerospace units a Group Captain is executive commander of a group of at least 2 wings. Their naval counterparts often command unarmed JumpShips, transport DropShips, and smaller armed DropShips, command the Aerospace Groups on the carriers (they are often referred to by the acronym "CAG", for "Commander Aerospace Group"), or serve as the executive officers of WarShips. Their rank insignia is a silver hawk with wings spread set under a sword.  
  
 **Colonel/Captain/Air Colonel**  
The highest of the field officer ranks, Colonels command infantry, armor, or theoretical artillery regiments, and command the March Militia's BattleMech regiments. They also serve as executive officers for line BattleMech regiments, although typically this may include directing the regiment themselves at a tactical level. Their naval counterparts are known as Captains, usually referred to as "naval Captain" to distinguish them from land force and aerospace captains. Naval Captains typically command WarShips and large armed DropShips, or as the commander of DropShip and JumpShip flotillas. Aerospace Air Colonels command groups of aerospace fighters. Their rank insignia is a gold hawk with wings spread set under a sword, an insignia that is sometimes referred to as having a "gold bird" as opposed to a "silver bird".  
  
  
 **General Officers**  
  
 **Brigadier/Commodore/Air Commodore**  
After over two decades of service, officers who remain in the service and prove their command capability rise to the general officer ranks. The first is Brigadier for ground troops and Commodore or Air Commodore for naval and aerospace forces. Brigadiers command the brigades of the AFRF and are considered the COs of the line BattleMech regiments, as well as XOs for those with full RCTs or Combat Divisions.. Commodores are executive officers for Naval Squadrons of the AFRF. Air Commodores oversee the aerospace regiments assigned to Combat Divisions as well as planetary Aerospace Defense Regiments. Their rank insignia is a single gold star set on a silver square.  
  
 **Major General/Rear Admiral/Air Vice-Marshal**  
Major Generals are commanders of full-sized Regimental Combat Teams or Combat Divisions and heads of planetary defense headquarters across the Royal Federation. Rear Admirals are Executive Officers of the Battle Fleets while Air Vice-Marshals are typically in the AFRF staff echelons, with some commanding the Aerospace Divisions responsible for protecting major worlds like Arcadia, Tharkad, and Atreus. Officers of this rank are also found in senior management positions in the AFRF's upper echelons. Their rank insignia is two gold stars set side-by-side on a silver square.  
  
 **Lieutenant General/Vice Admiral/Air Marshal**  
These officers are COs of March Defense Commands and AFRF Op Forces. They are often the immediate responsible authorities for major military operations, including planetary-scale campaigns, while Vice Admirals are commanders of the Battle Fleets. Air Marshals oversee March Aerospace Commands. Whichever service they came up through, they are expected to be capable of blending all of the services together for successful operations. Once an officer attains this rank, they are automatically granted knighthoods. Their rank insignia is three gold stars arranged into a pyramid on a silver square.  
  
 **General/Admiral/Air Marshal-General**  
Formerly the highest rank typically found in the Royal Federation and the Free March before it, the expansion of the Royal Federation in size, and the experiences of the War of Donegal Succession and the Terran War, led to the expansion of the general officer ranks and a re-organization of responsibilities. Officers of this rank are COs of Theater Commands, which are collections of Marches in specific regions, and in time of war can also be employed as commanders of Operational Groups, collections of OpForces employed over multiple star systems. They may also serve as chiefs of staff to the department heads of the AFRF. Their rank insignia are four stars arranged at the cardinal points of a silver square.  
  
 **Field Marshal/Grand Admiral/Senior Air Marshal**  
In practice these are the highest ranks employed by the AFRF. They are the commanders of the AFRF's Departments. In war they would be appointed as Operational Front commanders overseeing operational fronts spanning dozens of star systems. These officers typically wield the ultimate responsibility for the AFRF. Their rank insignia is a silver square with five stars, four in the cardinal points and one in the middle.  
  
 **Marshal of the Army** / **Chief of Naval Operations/Chief Air Marshal of the Aerospace Force**  
These are not ranks so much as positions. Officers of appropriate background among the Field Marshals, Grand Admirals, and Senior Air Marshals of the AFRF serve as the senior commanders of the three main combat branches of the AFRF, overseeing the ground, naval, and aerospace fighter forces respectively. The Chief Air Marshal not only oversees ground-based aerospace commands, but advises the Chief of Naval Operations on the Naval Aerospace Arm's operational requirements. Collectively they sit as the lead members of the AFRF's Command Staff. There is no special insignia for these positions.  
  
 **Chief of Staff of the AFRF**  
The Chief of Staff oversees the high staff operations of the Royal Federation military, chairing the Department and Service heads of the AFRF when they officially meet as the Command Staff. They can be from any of the component services and serve at the pleasure of the High King, to whom they act as senior military advisor. All Chiefs of Staff of the AFRF are considered members of the Privy Council of the Royal Federation even after retirement. Upon retirement from active service it is custom for the High King to grant them a title of nobility, even if they are already in possession of one.  
  
 **High King/High Queen**  
By the law and custom of the Royal Federation, the ruler is the Commanding Officer of the AFRF. Whatever their military status before their accession to the throne, they are authorized to wear the uniform of an AFRF officer at all formal occasions. Their rank insignia is a crowned golden hawk with spread wings on a silver square, the wings and tail-feathers of the hawk beyond the perimeter of the square.


	10. Fluff - Commendations and Awards of the Royal Federation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A list of all the bling the AFRF's personnel can secure over their careers.

**Commendations and Awards of the Royal Federation**  
  
  
It is a long tradition of military services to reward exemplary service, especially service in combat, stretching back to the armies of Classical Greece recognizing valor among their own, or the Roman Army granting Civic Crowns to Roman legionnaires who saved the life of a comrade. Once such awards were usually grants of money or land, or in the case of commanders, admission into feudal and chivalric orders like the Order of the Golden Fleece or the Order of the Garter. As war transformed into the flying steel of projectile fire, common soldiers and field commanders alike were granted awards in the form of medals or by the practice of being deliberately named in official reports for conduct above and beyond the call of duty (the practice of being "named in despatches", as the British Army once called it).  
  
The reward of martial excellence and prowess has followed Mankind into the stars, and the Royal Federation is no exception to the rule. The prompt and proper reward of good conduct is universally considered a necessity to maintain morale and inspire those in service to greater acts of courage and duty. As such, the AFRF retains a number of rewards granted to personnel for excellence.  
  
  
**Bronze Wing**  
The Bronze Wing, in the shape of a fully-spread bronze-colored hawk wing set on a disk with a red ribbon, is a general reward granted for exceptional conduct in non-combat duties. Commonly rewarded for the performance of administrative and support duties, many soldiers believe that support service officers are the only ones who care about it.  
  
  
**Good Conduct Medal**  
Granted to AFRF enlisted personnel with at least three years of service and who have not committed a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in the past two years.  
  
  
**Silver Wing**  
The Silver Wing is awarded to AFRF personnel who perform beyond the call of duty in a situation involving mortal danger. This can include combat, major accidents, or cases of a vessel suffering a severe mechanical problem. It is a fully-spread silver-colored hawk wing set on a disk with a blue ribbon.  
  
  
**Arcadian Service Cross**  
Initially created by Duchess Sara for the Liberation forces, the Arcadian Service Cross is for exceptional conduct in combat operations. It is a silver Greek cross set in a wreaths with a green and blue ribbon. WIth the expansion of the Royal Federation to include other realms, it has become more associated with those from the worlds of the original Free March, and is preferentially sought for residents of those worlds.  
  
  
**Order of Military Glory** **(** _ **Wisam al-Iftiqhar al-Askari**_ **)**  
Created following the fall of the Lyran Commonwealth, this commendation is awarded by the Amir of Dar-es-Salaam instead of the AFRF, and is by custom awarded to practicing Muslims of the AFRF. Under the original terms of Dar-es-Salaam's admission into the Free March, the AFRF allows the commendation to be worn as a military honor even if, technically speaking, it is not an official award of the Royal Federation itself. The award is a medal with a green field depicting crossed Arab scimitars, with a ribbon of green and white.  
  
  
**The Star of Bolan**  
Once a treasured award of the independent Principality of Bolan, the Star of Bolan was added to the rolls of AFRF awards by March-Princess Sara-Marie in 3034, after receiving the exiled Grand Princess Sita's oath of fealty. It is a golden disc bearing an eight-pointed star of silver set under a lit diya lamp.  
  
  
**Order of the Saber**  
This award of the defunct Free Worlds League was restored by order of High Queen Sara-Marie and Archduke Joshua Marik of Atreus during the dark days of the War of Donegal Succession, when Stewart, Marik, and Irian fell to the Oriento-Capellan Empire and Atreus and Campbelton were likewise threatened with Halas-Liao conquest. The Archduke of Atreus customarily grants membership to those of the former Marik Commonwealth and other League worlds who perform "acts of extraordinary heroism or chivalry". The Order of the Saber has four chapter houses, on the planets Atreus, Campbelton, Stewart, and Tamarind. Members wear a horizontal saber on a ribbon of purple and dark blue.  
  
  
**The Honor of Skye**  
Defunct under the Teutonized Federal Star Republic of Skye, the Honor of Skye was restored by House Brewer in 3039 under the laws of the Defiance-Hesperus Consolidant. It was carried over as a recognized AFRF commendation when High Queen Jacqueline Proctor authorized the Consolidation Act of 3116, formally integrating her mother's realm into the Federation, and is issued, by custom, by the Archduke of Skye. It is a golden disc depicting a Scots warrior wielding a claymore.  
  
  
**The Donegal Hammer**  
This prestigious award **,** descended from McKennsy's Hammer in the old LCAF, is associated with the Kingdom or Protectorate of Donegal, and was rolled into the AFRF rolls in 3048 by joint decree of High King Thomas Proctor and Queen Johanna Steiner. While it is no longer an actual hammer of nine kilograms, it remains a silver block hammer depicted on a golden disc overlaid with the Steiner Fist and Proctor Hawk.  
  
  
**Distinguished Flying Cross**  
This award is granted to aerospace fighter pilots who win a specific number of victories against enemy craft or who perform similar feats of military excellence. The medal is a blue Greek cross with a pair of silver wings in the middle, attached to a blue and silver ribbon.  
  
  
**Navy Cross**  
This is typically granted to naval personnel who perform exemplary acts to win engagements or preserve their ship from damage or loss. The medal is a gold Greek cross with a silver five-pointed star in the middle. The ribbon colors are gold and black.  
  
  
**Military Cross of Valor**  
An award granted to ground force personnel who perform exemplary military duties in combat situations at severe risk to one's life. It is also typically granted to MechWarriors credited with a specific number of victories against other BattleMechs in a specific engagement or campaign. The medal is a crimson Maltese cross set under a silver five-pointed star. The ribbon colors are red and silver.  
  
  
**Dragonslayer's Ribbon**  
This old Lyran award for entire units was restored by order of HIgh King Thomas in 3072 during the Compact-Concord War, to be granted to units involved in battles with the Galedon Mutual Co-Prosperity Sphere. After the Peace of Nox the award would become a rare grant until the Fourth Succession War, where it once again became widely awarded due to the fighting with Galedon over the worlds of the Azami Confederation. It is a green and white pennant depicting a hawk tearing into a Kuritan dragon with its talons and beak, and is typically hung beneath the regimental standard.  
  
  
**Wrangler's Ribbon**  
First awarded in 3043 after the Ten Year Peace was signed, the Wrangler's Ribbon is granted to AFRF units that are involved in significant combat operations against the Oriento-Capellan Empire. The persistent warfare between Houses Proctor-Steiner and Halas-Liao means many units bear the ribbon, a pennant of red and gold that depicts a hawk bridling a rearing horse with its talons.  
  
  
**The Order of the Liberator**  
This award is granted in both military and civil grades by order of the High king. It is reserved for citizens or personnel of the Free March who, through military or civil action, rescue captives or persons held in forced labor or bondage. It has been granted to military personnel who rescue captives from pirate bands as well as police officials and other civilians who cause the dismantling of human trafficking operations. It is a neck order (that is, worn as a necklet close to the throat instead of hanging down over the chest) displaying the Proctor crest of a sword severing the chains of a set of manacles, the necklet ribbon being in red, blue, and magenta colors. It may be granted to foreign persons at the discretion of the High King, but the only occasions so far have been posthumous awards.  
  
  
**The Order of St. Michael**  
A prestigious honor formed by March-Princess Sara shortly after the founding of the Free March, it comes in four grades: Companion, Knight, Knight-Commander, and Knight Grand Cross. It is awarded to civilians and military officers for services rendered to the Royal Federation, with the selected grade determined by the scope of their service. Those knighted in the New Year and Birthday Honors Lists are automatically made Knights of the Order of St. Michael. The upper grades in particular are granted primarily to high ranking officers for decades of successful service, as well as to major civic leaders and statesmen. AFRF officers who reach the rank of Lieutenant General, Vice Admiral, or Air Marshal-General are typically awarded the Knight-Commander grade, regardless of prior awards, while the Knight Grand Cross has only been granted twenty times since 2960. The Order of St. Michael in all grades is awarded at the discretion of the High King, including to foreign leaders and dignitaries. The actual award is a given as a neck order, consisting of a white disc set in a silver starburst with the sword-bearing likeness of St. Michael in the center. With the Knight Grand Cross, the starburst itself is set upon an Iron Cross.  
  
  
**The Order of the Sword and Hawk**  
Originally named for the emblems of House Proctor and the Free March (now the Royal Federation), the Order of the Sword and the Hawk are awarded by the sovereign for service to the cause of the Proctor family and the ideals of the Federation. It comes in military and civil grades and requires the recipient to have risked their life openly. The medal is a silver hawk with a sword clasped in its talons and wings spread on a Greek cross of blue.  
  
  
**The Order of the Sword and Glove**  
Founded by High King Ethan in 3078, this medal commemorates the union of Houses Proctor and Steiner into one ruling house. It is typically awarded for service that reinforces the bond between the two houses and the union of Arcadia and Donegal. Since the addition of the Consolidant to the Federation, it has likewise been considered appropriate for promoting the union of all three former Lyran states in the Royal Fdeeration. In military terms it is bestowed to officers who help defend the Isle of Skye and the Terran Corridor from external threats. The medal itself is a sword overlaid on a Steiner fist emblem on a Greek cross.  
  
  
**The Order of the Hawk and Eagle**  
Likewise founded by High King Ethan in 3078, the Order of the Hawk and Eagle is directed for citizens of Royal Federation worlds who work to support the continued union of the former Marik Commonwealth and Duchy of Tamarind with the Royal Federation, although it has been pointed out that many worlds of both remain in the hands of the Oriento-Capellan Empire and the Flavian Principate. The military grades are often given to personnel who perform exceptionally in campaigns against the Capellans. The medal depicts a silver hawk and purple-blue eagle side-by-side on a disc of white set on a golden Greek cross.  
  
  
**The Grand Cross of the Royal Federation**  
The absolute highest military award in the Royal Federation it is awarded to personnel who act with extreme risk to their own lives to aid comrades or turn the tide of an action. Of the hundreds of awards handed out since March-Princess Sara established the award in 2961, well over half have been posthumous. The medal is a gold Maltese Cross set in wreaths with a pair of crossed swords, whose hilts are joined by a white and gold ribbon bearing the words _Virtutis Gloria Merces_ , Latin for "Glory is the reward of Valor". It is worn from the neck with a ribbon of blue, red, and white. The award automatically confers a knighthood upon the conferee, as well as a financial grant from the Crown to support survivors in the event of a posthumous award.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, okay, it's over, I'll stop posting the fluff!


	11. Fluff - Military Education in the Royal Federation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little article of military education in the Royal Federation, and the academies employed. Some will be familiar to fans of canon BTech, others not so familiar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MOAR FLUFF!!!

** Military Education in the Royal Federation **

Most worlds have at least one accredited AFRF training camp, and there are numerous Officer Commissioning Schools and Reserve Officer Training Command programs across the worlds of the Royal Federation. These provide basic training for recruits and draftees. Additionally a number of staff colleges, such as Eilat Staff College on Gienah, provide education in the administrative tasks that keep an interstellar military functioning.

Additionally the AFRF maintains a number of collegiate-level military academies for training its officer corps, including line MechWarriors and aerospace fighter pilots. As with much of the Royal Federation and AFRF, it is a combination of old and new schools, with institutions raised before and after the Fall of the Star League.

**Ayrshire Military Sciences Academy**

Once a training center for Kong Interstellar during the Star League, the newly-formed Free March rebuilt and restored the broken facility in the Arcadian city of Ayrshire, not far from Sannazaro, in the 2960s to be their principal military education facility. While today it must share top billing with other centers, its reputation for producing excellent MechWarriors persists, and it is also favored for its military engineering and naval engineering courses.

**The Nagelring**

For many years in the Star League era and beyond the Nagelring produced fine officers for the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces. The collapse of the Commonwealth in the 29th Century, and the abandonment of Tharkad in the chaos, led to the school's closure. Under ComStar's authority it was preserved but went unused. After Donegal reclaimed the world with Arcadian support, however, Queen Johanna Steiner did not take long to fund the reactivation of the academy, as a gesture toward Lyran sentiment among the population. With her favor, and that of her son High King Ethan Proctor-Steiner, the Nagelring is again one of the premiere academies in the Inner Sphere.

**Sanglamore**

Formerly an SLDF-accredited school, Sanglamore is a point of pride for the people of Skye, and its restoration by House Brewer went a long way to reconciling Skye's conquest by Hesperus in 3032. It enjoyed particular patronage throughout the career of High Queen Jacqueline, a graduate, and produces many fine pilots and officers. It has gained a somewhat checkered reputation, however, as a hotbed of Skye nationalism.

**Atrean Military Academy**

Not to be outdone by the Lyran portion of the Royal Federation, in 3064 Archduke Joshua Marik formally opened the AMA to give Atreus equal footing with Tharkad and Arcadia in training the AFRF's upcoming generations of officers. While it has decent MechWarrior programs, and often sees its best graduates pipelined right into the Atrean Dragoons, the MSME's proven exceptionally good at producing artillery officers.

**Tamarind Military Institute**

Once the pride and joy of the Duchy of Tamarind, the TMI is considered in the top tier of the Federation's military education facilities, although its prominence fell due to the major damage suffered during the invasion and occupation of Tamarind by the Scipian Dominate in the later 3090s. Rebuilt in time for the 4th Succession War, it was again struck hard, this time by raiding mercenaries in Oriento-Capellan employ. While rebuilt a second time, the paucity of resources from the AFRF meant it relied on local assistance, and as such the TMI has become tightly linked with the Tamarind Rangers and 2nd Tamarind Guards, unfortunately including persistent secessionism.

**Rivka Shaltiel Flight Academy**

Founded in 3041 during the height of the War of Donegal Succession, the Rivka Shaltiel Flight Academy was built to take advantage of the strong aerospace industry on Gienah, even enjoying supporting grants from RAFAEL-Gienah and Gienah Aerospace Industries. While there are aerospace courses at a number of schools, the Flight Academy has become the primary source of aerospace fighter pilots and DropShip officers in the Royal Federation, enjoying full support from the planet's aerospace factories.

**Raquel Steiner Memorial Academy**

Founded from the Kingdom of Donegal's military education institutions, Queen Johanna Steiner named the RSMA in honor of her aunt, and to match AMSA's role in the Co-Ruler era by giving Donegal a top-flight institution as well. It was inevitably overshadowed by the restoration of the Nagelring, but remains popular among those in the former Donegal state's worlds.

**Defiance Industries Military Academy**

Once the premiere military school of the DefHes Consolidant, primarily for training MechWarriors, following the formal union with the Royal Federation the Defiance Industries Military Academy found itself wedged between the popular Sanglamore on Skye and AMSA on Arcadia, the former of which it has developed a particularly fierce rivalry with. It does hold its own in terms of winning talented students, with courses available in multiple fields. Due to the complicated terms of the marriage treaty for Ethan Proctor-Steiner and Mathilda Steiner-Brewer, the university does not provide courses solely for the AFRF but also for House Brewer's personal forces, the Defiance Industries Security Corps and the Brewer Life Guards.

**Defiance Armored Combat School**

Much like DIMA on Hesperus, the Defiance Armored Combat School - on Carnwath - is still under partial control of Defiance Industries and House Brewer. Its student base tends to be local, but it has provided many fine armored unit officers for both the AFRF and House Brewer's personal troops. The AFRF particularly draws from the school's VTOL piloting officer annex.

**Alarion Naval Academy**

While a number of the military schools in the Royal Federation have naval courses, Alarion has the only dedicated naval officer academy founded by the Royal Navy. The four year programs there culminate with a six month midshipman's tour aboard the _AFS Sentinel_ , a rebuilt Second Age of War frigate nearly destroyed in the Terran War, or with the _AFS Independence_ Naval Aerospace School. Alarion also provides post-graduate courses for the naval officer corps. Many of the top officers of the Navy graduate from the staff courses they offer.

_**AFS Independence** _ **Naval Aerospace School**

The most unique of military education facilities. _AFS Independence_ and her sister ship, _AFS Melissa Proctor_ , were specially built Carrier WarShips from the 3050s. Both were lost in the Concord-Compact War, but the _Independence_ was intact enough to warrant rebuilding for the purpose of training the Royal Navy's Aerospace Arm. It is a one year course usually taken up by volunteers who have completed a minimum of three years' aerospace education at other schools, although the intensity of the training and the environment is more akin to a 2 year course. Despite the failure rate it constantly has to delay or turn away applicants due to demand, as the Fleet Aerospace Arm's reputationmakes them the goal of many a pilot looking to prove they can fly with the best.

**Royal Infantry Officer College**

A specialist university opened on McAffe in 3046, the RIOC is noted for its battle armor infantry courses. It also has a unique culture built around defiance of the primacy of the BattleMech and anti-'Mech infantry tactics. Graduates are authorized to wear the university's official tartan - red on blue and gold - if their regiments permit, and they are known for being assertively proud of the school.

**George S. Patton Jr. School of Mechanized Warfare**

At its opening in 3048, the Patton Mechanized Warfare School was described dismissively as a vanity project by the history-obsessed Duke of Concord and his nobility-hating populace. While Concorders are often fiercely proud of their lack of a noble class beyond a few vestigial FWL-era nobles like the Franklins, the planet's governing dukes, the school has proven its worth in graduating officers skilled in combined arms tactics.


	12. Uncertainty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reply leads to the most important question of all: can they go home?

_**AFS Arcadia** _ **, In Orbit  
Timkovichi, Coventry Province  
Lyran Commonwealth  
13 August 3142**

Admiral Marik made sure everything was ready by the time the DropShuttle arrived from the planet. Generals Bridger and von Istenburg came straight to the wardroom. The two men had clearly disrupted their sleep to make the conference.

"The drone came back through," Marik said simply, before nodding to Commander Patel. She tapped a couple keys.

The main holotank came alive with the face of a woman, thin, with paled dark skin. " _To the crew of_ AFS Emancipator _and other ships, this is Captain Greta Gunderson of the JumpShip_ Grunstern, _Ghastilla registry_ , _Atocongo system. We have downloaded the data you placed on your drone and transmitted it to the authorities on Atocongo for relay to Inarcs and Arcadia. I can tell you that ships are on their way to investigate the persistent jump field you left behind here, but not when they will arrive. The_ Grunstern _is remaining on station for the time being and will relay any further word you send through. Godspeed._ "

"They sent the astrogation data with the drone on the return trip," Patel said. "As we were suspecting, we left a similar field at the spot we jumped out of Atocongo's nadir point."

"What of the drone? Did the transits damage it?"

"No. From what I've seen of the _Emancipator_ officers' examination, the drone's suffered no major damage and no excess of KF-related radiation."

"Then maybe we could go through safely," Admiral Kruger said. The hope in his voice was unmistakable.

"Maybe." Admiral Marik gave Patel a significant glance.

She swallowed and nodded. "It does appear that way, but I must stress this isn't _proof_ we can. We don't yet know what it will do to organic tissues. Given the way we reacted to the jump in, it might be the same, or worse, going back the other way."

"So how do we confirm? Send a volunteer through in a DropShuttle?" Bridger asked.

"Then you may be killing that volunteer. No, I think first we need to send organic matter through the field."

"What kind of matter?"

"Complicated multi-cell organisms. Plants, animals. Depending how they endure the transit, we can move on to human testing."

"And have Captain Gunderson tell us if anything survived? That sounds like it would work."

"So we get the animals needed… how? Anyone got anything furry we can send through?"

"Ye'll nae be touchin' our mouser, an that's for sure!" Captain Fitzhugh barked. "Ye dinnae touch a crew's mouser!"

Bridger returned the outburst with an acid glare, but before he could retort Marik spoke up. "Perhaps we can ask the local authorities for assistance? Timkovichi has native animal and plant life that would work."

"I'm sure Colonel Kell will give us anything we ask," Bridger said. "Why don't we call him up?"

It took a couple minutes for the connection to go through, and for the burly MechWarrior to show up on the holotank. " _Colonel Evan Kell here, General, Admiral. What can I do you for?_ " Sleep, it seemed, had restored a rather irreverent sense of humour.

"Ah, a face to the voice," Admiral Marik said pleasantly. "A pleasure, Colonel, to meet you. I'm sure you have duties, so I'll keep this short. We have need of some assistance in our efforts with the portal, namely, plants and animals we can test sending through the field our ships created. Do you think the Timkovichi authorities can assist?"

" _So you're looking for some flowers an' critters to send through, make sure nobody who goes through gets fried? Not the kind of thing we’ve got in stores, but I’ll see what we can round up. Either me or Colonel Allard’ll let you know when we’ve got an idea of what we can scare up._ "

"Thank you for that, Colonel."

" _Not a problem. Like I said yesterday, I owe you big, Admiral, and this isn’t a major thing anyway. Kell out._ "

Once the image disappeared, Marik said, "Well, it seems we'll have that going soon. Have the _Emancipator_ send another drone through, inform the other side of what's coming. With luck, by the end of the day we may know if we can go home or not."

The DropShuttle from _Arcadia_ bore its passenger into the heart of the 8th Strikers' bivouac in the ruined quarters of Cirenholm. They found representatives of the Timkovichi Armored Guard waiting for them, bearing several potted plants and a cage with a group of finger-length reptilians.

While the shuttle crew started securing the creatures, Lieutenant Commander John Albright had his own matter to attend to. The dark-skinned man, a native of the planet Gannett in the McAffe March of the Royal Federation, took leave of the crew that brought him down and headed for the towering spheroid form of the _AFS Charles Sinclair_. Aside from the Medical Department insignia on his red and blue uniform, he blended right in with the personnel milling about on their tasks and routines.

Given his career was primarily naval, Albright had little experience with the DropShips that typically served with the Army. The _Sinclair_ , like most ships that were built around carrying and deploying troops, was under Army Department command, not Naval. He initially considered entering via the large BattleMech bays, just to spy at the last minute a ramp leading up to an airlock door. He was nearly to the ramp when met by another officer with a cadeceus pin on her lapel and a Lieutenant's rank strips on her collar. "Commander Albright?" she asked, her accent explicitly Scandinavian. "Major Karla Haraldsdottir, Assistant Senior Physician, 8th Strikers Regiment. Please follow me."

Major Haraldsdottir led Albright aboard the _Charles Sinclair_. Their path took them several decks up, above the bays and sections where the troops and their equipment was kept, and to clearly marked brig facilities. MPs waived them through to the cell area, which was empty save one occupant.

Albright was surprised to see that his prospective patient was so young. She looked anywhere from fourteen to eighteen years of age, of thin build with unkept hair. Her clothing was a drab green jumpsuit. His eyes noted the green and white corded bracelet on her wrist, with a green bird insignia on a tab. She ignored him, remaining balled up on the cot and silent. "Who is she?"

"Thanks to the locals interviewing some of our prisoners, we know the name is apparently 'Cinthy'," Haraldsdottir replied. "She was some kind of… ward, or pet, of the enemy leader. Nobody can get her to speak, so we asked for anyone with psychological training. The regiment doesn't have a psychiatrist or anything assigned."

"But battleships do," he said in understanding. "Alright. I'll need her in a less hostile environment. Whatever's been done to her, the brig isn't remotely appropriate."

"The soldiers put her here. She resisted. Tried to stab, kick, punch, everything."

"I'll be able to take care of myself," he assured the woman. "I'll need a quiet space away from your barracks. It's going to take time., too. See about refreshments?"

"You'll have everything you need.”

Albright nodded and drew in a sigh. In truth this wasn’t his field either, not directly. Pediatric psychiatry was a very particular field of study, and his specialty was military psychiatry. _But something’s better than nothing, I just have to establish enough of a rapport that a pediatric psychiatrist can finish the job._

The girl, Cinthy, refused to move at first once the cell was opened. Grudgingly she stood from the cot, and the look in her eyes told Albright she was thinking of attacking. “We’ve got food,” he said. “If you don’t fight you’ll get a better place to sleep.”

The girl’s eyes met his. “Fighting is life,” she said, her young voice something of a hoarse croak. “My Khan will expect me to fight when she comes for me.”

“Your Khan?”

“Malvina. The Chinggis Khan. The Conquerer.”

“She’s in our infirmary, a quadriplegic,” Haraldsdottir whispered to Albright.

“She is going to kill you all,” the girl predicted confidently.

Given what he’d just been told,, Albright decided not to reveal that quite yet. “And she’ll be angry if you didn’t fight against us?”

Cinthy didn’t have to nod in answer. Her haunted eyes told him enough.

The attack came suddenly, but the MPs were ready and far stronger. Cinthy’s lunge was thwarted by their powerful arms. She screamed wordlessly at them as she was forced back into the cell, and the door was shut.

_Well, it looks like I’ve got quite a hard job ahead of me_ , Albright thought ruefully.

On arrival to the command center of the _Arcadia_ , Lord Paul idly noted that the number of on-duty personnel was too high. He'd anticipated this and said nothing, merely giving a glance to Admiral Rodgers who returned it with a nod. She'd allowed a fair share of officers and crew in to watch their fates be decided. Whatever happened, they would be the ones to spread it to the rest of the crew. He noted a number of senior Lieutenants and mid-ranked Petty Officers, the kind of personnel who were low enough in rate to interact with the bulk of the crew while high enough to wield respect. Hopefully they would manage whatever happened in a way to benefit morale.

"The DropShuttle is prepared, sir," Commander Cohen said from his station. "For safety reasons a pilot ejecting themselves was decided against. We have other shuttles towing the ship up to a working velocity."

"Then we have nothing to do but wait. Does the other side know?"

"The drone came back through. They're waiting for our ship to come through and have the planned time of arrival."

"Very well."

Lord Paul took his seat and waited, with strained patience, for their fates to be decided. If the living things on the shuttle survived, they could safely return home. If not…

...if not, they were trapped here, exile from families and friends and homes, in a new and dangerous world.

The operation went off without a problem, at least. They got the shuttle up to 1G before breaking away. All hands watched the holoviewer as the squad winged shape flew on, no longer under any power but that of inertia's. It approached the glowing blue field and entered without any deviation in course. A bright flash came from the phenomena and the shuttle was gone.

Lord Paul heard quiet prayer from various quarters. He offered his own, so that the day would come he could return to Atreus, to his wife and family, his children. He didn't want to be trapped in this place.

The seconds stretched like minutes. Minutes like hours. And yet they knew it would be up to an hour before Gunderson and her crews could catch the shuttle, tow it in, check the creatures and plants within, and sent the shuttle back through with the answer. The second trip was part of the point, after all; since they'd already gone through once, and it was important to verify the things aboard could survive.

"They would probably be very kind to us,":remarked Rodgers quietly. "Four 'Mech regiments sound like something they could use, and the ships would be even more important."

"They do. But I do not know if I would want to live regardless," he confessed. He imagined his wife Nicole's face. His sons and daughter. Their family home outside of Mytilene. All the things he wished to return to, like give Sophia away when she met someone she liked, or see grandchildren, hear of Jason's rise through the Atrean Dragoons…

"At least we could talk with them. Send drones back and forth for mail."

"It wouldn't be the same."

"Yeah, it wouldn't." After that lament she glanced at the clock. "Fifty-seven minutes. Think _Grunstern_ 's crew is having trouble with things?"

"Perhaps."

"That's the worst part," she said. "Right now, we just don't know. If the worst happens, well, at least we'll _know_. All we can do is hope and pray and dread—"

"Emergence signature! Twenty seconds!"

That brought everyone's attention to the monitors. Seconds ticked down until the flash, and their DropShuttle re-appeared.

The technician moved her fingers as quickly as she could, accessing the internal cameras without even having to be asked. Across the command center, every pair of lungs stopped breathing for that moment as they waited for the images to be relayed to the screens.

The main holotank and other monitors changed to show the cramped cargo interior of the DropShuttle, with the caged critters and the pot-held plants. Every set of eyes watched, looking for signs of life.

" _Bwyeaaa!_ "

The cry came from a furry thing in the middle of the picture, a Timkovichi mammal called a pygmyphant for its pachydermous appearance. They watched the beast move in its cage, trunk reaching for its mostly-emptied bin of food supply.

Every being on the bridge released their breaths, allowing a multitude of grateful prayers to hum in the air. "Praise to God, kind and merciful," he heard Rodgers say while crossing herself in the Orthodox style.

"They're alive," Cohen said. "All of them."

"Another emergence signature!"

Everyone waited to see what happened. Their patience was rewarded when another DropShuttle came through this time. "Hail from the shuttle, it's Captain Gunderson," Cohen said.

"Put her on." Lord Paul watched the image of the living animals replaced by the very-alive JumpShip captain. "Captain?"

" _Wasn't about to put this on another of my crew, Admiral Marik, sir_ ," Captain Gunderson said. She nodded at him, grinning. " _Felt like any other jump, if you can believe it. And yet here I am, in some other Inner Sphere going by what you've said._ "

"You have our most profound thanks," he assured her. "We'll have space for you aboard if you like."

" _Makes sense. My surgeon figured it's best if I'm checked out before you start sending ships back through, just to be sure, but from what I'm seeing and feeling, you'll all be fine, Admiral._ "

"Yes, best to make sure," he agreed, "and I look forward to seeing you in our infirmary. _Arcadia_ Actual out."

Her image disappeared just as the first cheers echoed through the command center.

_They could go home._


End file.
